Los. Angeles, California - Cynthia Erivo has sounded off on critics scrutinizing her friendship with Ariana Grande.

While speaking with Variety on Wednesday, the Oscar winner addressed the rumors that she and the 32-year-old singer "staged" their close bond amid their press run for Wicked and Wicked: For Good.

"I think that people didn't really believe that we were actually friends," Cynthia explained.

She noted, "But that's also because people don't know me very well. If I'm a friend, then I'm a friend. If I'm not, then I'm not."

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The Harriet actor, who played Elphaba in the musical film adaptations, made headlines after defending Ariana from a man who ran up to her at a Singapore red carpet premiere.

Some fans argued Cynthia's reaction was over-the-top, but she insists that the two "were really trying to take care of each other."

Cynthia said her perceived "overprotectiveness" of Ariana was attacked in "insidious" memes and viral videos from fans who assumed that since she was "bigger" than her co-star, "I had to be controlling or protecting, and that was my role."

The Children of Blood and Bone star said, "I just felt like my humanity had been bastardized.

"It's very interesting, watching what people's perception is versus what the reality actually is," she continued, adding that there were "lots of psychologists seated at home deciding who we were, what we were going through, what we were doing and why."

The British entertainer doubled down on her relationship with her co-star, revealing that the pair still text each other "daily." And that's on the yellow brick road!