The Wicked movie has not only resulted in 10 Oscar nominations, but also one of the biggest press tour memes in recent memory.
And while the phrase “holding space” confused many people, it turns out Grande was the patient zero of this confusion.
“I’m like what the fuck is this whole interaction?” says Grande in the Graham Norton Show clip above, describing the now famous exchange between her co-star Cynthia Erivo and interviewer Tracy E. Gilchrist. “What does it mean?”
Grande goes on to describe how she grabbed Erivo’s finger in an attempt to comfort her, then started to tap it “because I don’t know what else to do with myself.”
“It was just like energy that I didn’t know what to do with, and it came out in that way because it was well intentioned, and I wanted to be loving and there for her, but why this?” says Grande, tapping on the finger of fellow guest Reese Witherspoon to demonstrate. “I don’t fucking know.”
