Cynthia Erivo Is Firmly On Team Janet Jackson

The life of a stan is a 24/7 undertaking. It can be exhausting to constantly analyze your beloved star’s weird tweet, cryptic Instagram stories, or the length of their ponytail. Sometimes even the biggest fan deserves a casual day off, and Cynthia Erivo is here to show us how stan style is done. Key takeaway: it’s all in the concert merch.

As a jury member, Erivo arrived at the Venice International Film Festival wearing an oversized Janet Jackson shirt. Her top tells the world which side of the internet’s recent debate over whether Jackson or Madonna is the true queen of pop as set off by a recent Lizzo tweet. The answer: there is no wrong answer. And certainly, Jackson is worthy of any and all appreciation. She’s a supremely talented musician, an aesthetic genius, and it is a cultural crime that she’s been, as Billy Eichner points out, “underappreciated” for decades. Erivo’s statement shirt is reminding us to ask Alexa to play “Control,” and we promise to always put respect on Jackson’s name.

Her look is kept casual with wide-legged distressed jeans, a comfortable touch with her crisp white shirt and giant turquoise Gucci square-rimmed sunglasses. And since she arrived via boat — Venice is a floating city, after all — her platform sneakers kept her dry. It’s a style secret that mall goths perfected in the late 90s: the higher the shoes, the less your giant pants will get destroyed in the rain. Erivo accessorized her outfit with gold hoop earrings, a slouchy cracked leather bag, and tons of diamonds gracing her ears and necklace chains. Check out more photos of her look below.