Celebrity
Cynthia Erivo Responds To Backlash Over Wicked Poster Comments
On Oct. 28, the actor explained how she’s “really protective” of her character, Elphaba.
Earlier this month, Cynthia Erivo criticized a fan-edited version of the Wicked poster, but she walked back those comments on Monday, Oct. 28.
While walking the red carpet at the 2024 CDFA Awards, the actor told Entertainment Tonight that she’s “really protective” of her character in the upcoming film adaptation of Wicked. “I probably should have called my friends, but it’s fine,” she said of the moment. “I’m passionate about it and I know the fans are passionate about it, and I think for me it was just like a human moment of wanting to protect little Elphaba.”
On Oct. 16, she had reacted to an edited poster in a since-deleted Instagram Story. The artwork changed the original poster to more closely replicate the poster of the Broadway musical, upon which the movie is based — for example, while Erivo’s face is fully visible in the film poster, the edit hides her face behind a witch’s hat.
“The original poster is an ILLUSTRATION,” Erivo wrote on Instagram at the time. “I am a real life human being, who chose to look right down the barrel of the camera to you, the viewer. ... [W]ithout 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.”
What Did Ariana Say?
Erivo’s comments were quickly controversial, as some fans interpreted the artwork as an homage to the Broadway show. Even Grande weighed in while speaking to Variety at the Academy Museum Gala on Oct. 19, noting the potentially dangerous effects of AI artwork.
“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,” she said. “This is something that is so much bigger than us, and the fans are gonna have fun and make their edits.”
However, Grande ultimately sided with her Wicked co-star, noting that sometimes fans can go “too far” with their edits. “I have so much respect for my sister, Cynthia, and I love her so much,” she said. “It’s just a big adjustment period. It’s so much stimulation about something that’s so much bigger than us.”
