Ariana Grande calls backlash to her voice change sexist: ‘When it’s a male actor that does it, it’s acclaimed’

‘There is a part of the world that isn’t familiar with what it takes to transform your voice,’ she says

Ariana Grande has commented on the alleged double standards behind the criticism she received over her voice change for her role as Glinda in Wicked.

Earlier this year in June, a video of the “Thank U, Next” singer speaking in a deeper tone before instantly switching to a breathier and higher pitch on Penn Badgley’s Podcrushed went viral on multiple social media platforms.

Fans called her out for her voice change, to which she responded on Tiktok: “I intentionally change my vocal placement (high / low) often depending on how much singing i’m doing. I’ve always done this BYE.”

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Grande talked about navigating the backlash, and called out the double standards that allegedly exist when actors change their voices for a role, pointing out that men are usually celebrated for it.

“There is a part of the world that isn’t familiar with what it takes to transform your voice, whether it’s singing or taking on a different dialect for a role or doing a character voice for something,” she said.

“When it’s a male actor that does it, it’s acclaimed. There are definitely jokes that are made as well, but it’s always after being led with praise: ‘Oh, wow, he was so lost in the role.’ And that’s just a part of the job, really.

“Tale as old as time being a woman in this industry. You are treated differently, and you are under a microscope in a way that some people aren’t.”

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in Wicked (Universal / screengrab)

Grande added that she was proud of the hard work she put into the role, and wanted to address the backlash to highlight the effort.

“It’s something that I’m just really proud of. Part of why I did want to engage [on TikTok] is because I am really proud of my hard work and of the fact that I did give 100 per cent of myself, including my physicality, to this role. I am proud of that, so I wanted to protect it.”

Recently, Lady Gaga explained how she changed her singing voice to play Harley “Lee” Quinn in the forthcoming Joker sequel Joker: Folie à Deux.

“For me, there’s plenty of bum notes, actually, from Lee. I’m a trained singer, right? So even my breathing was different when I sang as Lee. When I breathe to sing onstage, I have this very controlled way to make sure that I’m on pitch, and it’s sustained at the right rhythm and amount of time, but Lee would never know how to do any of that,” she explained.

Austin Butler, who won a Golden Globe for best actor in 2023 for playing Elvis Presley in 2022’s Elvis, got a lot of scrutiny for his voice and dialect change, with many speculating whether the work he put in to develop the voice meant his vocal cords were altered permanently. Butler used the deeper register he’d developed for his character beyond filming, and said he was asked about it often.

“I don’t even think about it. I don’t think I sound like him still, but I guess I must because I hear it a lot,” Butler said at the 2023 Golden Globes.

Austin Butler in Elvis (Warner Bros.)

Butler even joked about it during his appearance on Saturday Night Live, saying: “There’s people out there that say ever since I played Elvis, my voice has changed. That it got deeper, more Elvis-y, but that’s not true. I’ve always sounded like this!”

Wicked also stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Jeff Goldblum as the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, and Bowen Yang as Pfannee.

Wicked is scheduled for release in UK cinemas on 27 November; a second instalment is expected to follow on 26 November 2025.