Wicked's Cynthia Erivo explains why she slammed “offensive” Elphaba poster edit amid criticism

29 October 2024, 14:14

By Katie Louise Smith

"I probably should’ve called my friends, but, it’s fine."

Wicked star Cynthia Erivo has explained why she called out all those Wicked movie poster edits, and has admitted that maybe it was something she should have called her friends about first before jumping online.

Earlier this month, Cynthia (who plays Elphaba in the upcoming movie musical) posted an Instagram story slamming the "deeply hurtful" and "offensive" photoshopped posters and AI edits of her and Glinda actress Ariana Grande.

Paying homage to the iconic original Broadway poster, Universal Pictures shared Cynthia and Ariana's take but the poster was met with a mixed response online. People then began photoshopping the image to look more like original.

In one edit, Cynthia's eyes ended up being obscured by Elphaba's hat, which prompted her to speak out and explain how much it offended her.

Now, in a new interview with Entertainment Tonight, Cynthia has reflected on her reaction.

• Read more: Dove Cameron opens up about losing dream role as Wicked's Glinda
• Read more: Wicked Fans Call Out People Bullying Boq Actor Ethan Slater Over New Poster

“It wasn’t necessarily a clap-back," Cynthia told the outlet. "I think I’m really protective of the role and just as I’m passionate about… Well, I am passionate about it and I know that the fans are passionate about it, and I think for me it was just like a human moment of like, wanting to protect little Elphaba. And it was a human moment.“

Taking it in good humour, Cynthia then added: "I probably should’ve called my friends, but, it’s fine."

At the time, Cynthia's post split opinion on social media. Some completely understood where she was coming from and agreed with her comments. Others sadly ended up mocking her even further online with more memes and edits.

Cynthia's co-star Ariana called the AI aspect of the whole thing "complicated" in an interview with Variety.

In her original post, Cynthia posted a photo of the edited Wicked poster alongside the caption: "This is the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen, equal to that awful AI of us fighting, equal to people posing 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.”

Read more from Capital Buzz here:

• Ariana Grande's Wicked co-star Bowen Yang says rumours about her dating life are not true
• Wicked director Jon M. Chu responds to criticism over "dark" first look photos
• Amanda Seyfried reveals she auditioned to play Glinda in the Wicked movie
• Is the Wicked movie two parts? Fans left confused by trailers and posters

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