Cynthia Erivo Responds to ‘Offensive’ Fan Edits of ‘Wicked’ Poster: ‘It Degrades Me’

Everyone involved with the film adaptation of Wicked was aware of the pressure they would inherit from the fan base of one of Broadway’s most beloved musicals. And yet, this acknowledgment hasn’t made any of the budding criticism around the movie, out Nov. 22, any easier to encounter. When the official poster for Wicked wasn’t an exact replica of the illustrated Broadway artwork, fans made their own edits to it — but Cynthia Erivo, who portrays Elphaba in the film, has called the changes “the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen.”

Erivo sounded off on her Instagram Story after coming across fan-made posters that edited the Wicked poster to show Elphaba with her eyes covered by a black witch hat. The new photos also adjusted the placement of Glinda’s (Ariana Grande) hand to the position of the original poster. “The original poster is an ILLUSTRATION,” the actress wrote. “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.”

The next slide of Erivo’s Instagram Story shares the original poster, as opposed to the edited one she reposted from a fan account. “Let me put this right here, to remind you and cleanse your palette.” The side by side comparison highlights other tweaks, including the addition of a red lip instead of the green lipstick of the film poster. “Our poster is an homage not an imitation,” Erivo continued. “To edit my face and hide my eyes is to erase me. And that is just deeply hurtful.”

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The actress grouped the changes in with being as offensive as AI videos of Elphaba and Glinda fighting and the running “is your p—y green?” meme. “None of this is funny. None of it is cute,” she said. “It degrades me. It degrades us.”

Grande did not directly criticize the edits, but did re-share the original Wicked poster on her Instagram Story without comment.