Ariana Grande celebrates 1st Emmy nomination with Cynthia Erivo

Ariana Grande is officially a 1st-time Emmy nominee.

On Wednesday, July 22, the Television Academy announced that they have revised the 2026 Emmy’s Outstanding Variety Special category to include Grande and her Wicked co-star Cynthia Erivo, who were previously not credited for their performance of Wicked: One Wonderful Night.

While Erivo has previously received three Emmy nominations, the revision marked Grande’s first time being nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.

Celebrating her colleague’s milestone, Erivo took to Instagram with several images and clips of her and Grande.

The pop icon re-shared the posts to her Stories, alongside a teary-eyed emoji.

Erivo, who scored her first Emmy nod in 2017, also shared a clip of the memorable performance which earned them their nomination. The two-hour musical television special premiered on NBC on November 6th, 2025.

Originally announced on July 8, the 2026 Primetime Emmy nominations included several nods to the performance, including Outstanding Choreography for Variety or Reality Programming, Outstanding Hairstyling for a Variety, Nonfiction, or Reality Program, Outstanding Lighting design/ Lighting Direction for a Special, Outstanding Music Direction, Outstanding Variety Special (pre-recorded), and Outstanding technical Direction and Camerawork for a Special.