As Cynthia Erivo channels the Christian Messiah, her Judas is coming to her defense. Ahead of this weekend’s star-studded Jesus Christ Superstar concert at Hollywood Bowl, Adam Lambert defended the casting of Erivo in the eponymous biblical role,

Jesus Christ Superstar focuses on Jesus’s final days, including his capture, flogging, and crucifixion. Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice use the biblical tale to comment on the cult of personality, a concept of which our world has healed itself of, and rarely sees in practice today (ahem).