Wicked star Cynthia Erivo has described the fan-edited movie poster as the ‘most offensive thing’ she’s seen.
The highly-anticipated musical fantasy film is based on the 1995 Gregory Maguire novel of the same name and L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.’
The first act follows Elphaba’s path to becoming the Wicked Witch of the West, and her unlikely friendship and eventual rivalry with fellow sorceress Glinda the Good Witch.
Set to become a blockbuster hit, its star-studded cast includes Erivo, Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathon Bailey, and Ethan Slater, among others.
Amid Wicked‘s build-up, a drastically altered version of one of the movie’s promotional posters has gone viral – and Erivo isn’t impressed.
One fan defends Erivo’s reaction to the edited poster, writing: “Wow, that fan-edited Wicked poster is wild! Cynthia Erivo’s right to call it out – it’s super offensive and disrespectful.”
Another adds: “Cynthia had every right to be upset about the Wicked poster and I think a lot of you forget she’s human. And most importantly, it’s her opinion.”
“The Wicked poster was never going to be exact because it was animated vs a live-action and Cynthia got every right to be upset,” weighs in a third.
A fourth person pens: “You know what? Cynthia Erivo has a completely valid reaction. The internet has just deemed it okay for us to say hurtful things and to play it off with ‘it’s just a joke.’”
However, others think Erivo has ‘overreacted’ to the fan edit.
One person explains: “The musical fans just wanted a poster that matched the musical poster. It wasn’t a personal attack. I think she’s overreacting on that.”
“They (rabid online Wicked fans) were editing the photo to look like the musical,” says a second. “She’s overreacted to an astounding degree.”
Somebody else comments: “Really? They just made the new poster similar to the old one. And the old one is a classic.”
“Cynthia Erivo overreacted and has caused so much negative publicity for the movie now,” opines another.
Amid the poster controversy, co-star Grande has spoken out and offered her thoughts, stating: “It’s very complicated.”
The ‘we can’t be friends’ singer told Variety: “I think it’s very complicated because I find AI so conflicting and troublesome sometimes, but I think it’s just kind of such a massive adjustment period.
“This is something that is so much bigger than us, and the fans are gonna have fun and make their edits.”
When asked if she thinks fans may go too far at times, Grande added: “I think so. And I have so much respect for my sister, Cynthia, and I love her so much.
“It’s just a big adjustment period. It’s so much stimulation about something that’s so much bigger than us.”
In the illustrated poster for the Wicked musical, Elphaba’s eyes are covered by the brim of her hat and her lips are bright red, positioned in a grin.
The movie’s version differs slightly, showing Erivo staring directly at the camera and without bright red lips.
Edited versions of the movie poster are circulating – it now resembles the illustration more closely and as a result, Erivo’s face is covered.
In response to the edited poster, Erivo has revealed she’s ‘deeply hurt.’
On her Instagram story and X (formerly Twitter) pages, Erivo penned: “This is the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen, equality to that awful AI of us fighting, equal to people post the question ‘is your ***** green.’
“None of this is funny. None of it is cute. It degrades me. It degrades us.
“The original poster is an illustration. I am a real-life human being, who chose to look right down the barrel of the camera to you, the viewer… because without words we communicate with our eyes.
“Our poster is an homage, not an imitation, to edit my face and hide my eyes is to erase me. And that is just deeply hurtful.”
