Cynthia Erivo, the star of “Wicked,” has openly criticized a fan-edited version of a film poster, calling it “deeply hurtful” and “degrading.”
The upcoming movie, set to release next month, is based on the acclaimed Broadway play “Wicked” and serves as a prequel to the classic “The Wizard of Oz.”
Erivo plays the role of Elphaba, who later becomes known as the Wicked Witch of the West, a character that challenges Dorothy. Ariana Grande stars alongside her as Glinda the Good Witch, with Jeff Goldblum taking on the role of the Wizard.
The story will be presented in two parts, with the second installment arriving in November 2025.
Recently, fans have shifted their attention from critiquing Ariana Grande’s accent in the film to altering one of the movie’s posters in a contentious way.
For those familiar with the Broadway musical, the poster features Elphaba smirking with her hat brim shading her eyes, while Glinda leans in to whisper.
Warner Bros. created a version for the film where Erivo’s Elphaba meets the viewer’s gaze, her hat brim raised higher. This design change prompted some fans to use Photoshop to “correct” the poster.
These edits included concealing Erivo’s face under the hat and adding red lipstick. Additionally, others made an AI video showing a fictional confrontation between Erivo and Grande’s characters.
Some people seem to have a lot of free time on their hands, don’t they?
Understandably upset, Erivo addressed the issue on her Instagram Story, expressing her disdain for the altered poster.
She wrote: “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 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.”
Supporters of Erivo, who did not participate in the Photoshop edits, defended her online. One wrote: “All of you supposed ‘Wicked fans’ should be ashamed of yourselves.”
“I don’t care how much you love the original poster. For a show that’s all about prejudice and the color of a young woman’s skin the racism couldn’t be any clearer. You do not deserve this film.”
Another commented: “If I see one more tweet saying ‘she’s doing too much’ ‘it’s just a poster’… they paid homage to the Broadway poster but that doesn’t give YOU the right to edit her face from the poster.”
“You can tell she’s deeply hurt by this and if you can’t see that – then you’re the issue.”
“Wicked” is set to hit theaters in the United States on November 22.