Cynthia Erivo wishes some “Wicked” fans would (only) have a heart.
On social media, the actress slammed a fan-edited poster that hid Elphaba’s (Erivo) eyes under her witch’s hat. The unauthorized image was an alteration to the Universal Pictures film‘s real poster, on which Elphaba’s full face is on display as Glinda (Ariana Grande) whispers in her ear. The fan-made graphic mirrors the famous ad from the original Broadway production.
Erivo said the fan-made image was “deeply hurtful” to her.
“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,” Erivo wrote on her Instagram Stories. “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.”
See the original Universal poster (right) and the fan edit (left) below.
And here is the OG Broadway show poster:
It is not just the fan-made image that Erivo takes issue with. Some of the internet’s “Wicked” parodies are just, well, downright wicked, she said.
Erivo continued, “This is the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen, equal to that awful AI of us fighting, equal to people posting the question, ‘Is your p***[y] green?’ None of this is funny. None of it is cute. It degrades me. It degrades us.”
The fan-edited poster is not the only image that has haunted “Wicked.” The production itself was plagued by paparazzi, Grande has said.
“It felt like a teeny, little secret student thing — its intimacy. It felt so small and private,” Grande said, adding, “until all of a sudden, we were outside, and the Daily Mail was han[g] gliding over our set.”
Grande, who worked to get “Wicked” greenlit (no pun intended) for years, has also spoken out against critics who accused her of changing her voice since playing Glinda.
Grande was mocked on social media after a clip of her airier speaking voice on the “Podcrushed” podcast went viral; she later posted 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.”
“Wicked” will be released on November 22, 2024; Part 2 premieres December 25, 2025.
