Cynthia Erivo Slams ‘Wildest – Most Offensive’ Fan Edits of Wicked Poster: ‘It Degrades Me’

Cynthia Erivo Slams ‘Wildest, Most Offensive’ Fan Edits of Wicked Poster: ‘It Degrades Me’

The Oscar-nominated actress Cynthia Erivo voiced her frustration over offensive fan edits of the upcoming Wicked movie poster, condemning them as degrading and inappropriate. She also expressed her disapproval of crude memes circulating online. “None of this is funny,” Erivo stated in an Instagram post.

Erivo, who plays Elphaba in the highly anticipated Wicked movie, took to Instagram on Wednesday to call out an unofficially altered version of the film’s poster. The original poster shows Ariana Grande as Glinda whispering to Erivo’s Elphaba, in a nod to the iconic Broadway one-sheet. However, fan edits have obscured Erivo’s eyes, which are visible in the official movie poster but hidden under Elphaba’s hat in the stage version.

“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?'” Erivo wrote in her Instagram Story, referring to viral memes that depict disturbing AI-generated footage of her and Grande in costume, and a crude meme suggesting her character’s genitals match the color of her green skin.

“None of this is funny. None of it is cute. It degrades me. It degrades us,” Erivo continued, referencing both the AI footage and the vulgar meme trend. She expressed how hurtful it was for her as an actress and as a person to see these fan alterations and memes.

In her message, Erivo emphasized the significance of the poster. “The original poster is an illustration. I am a real-life human being who chose to look directly into the camera for 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.”

When asked for a comment, Universal Studios referred Entertainment Weekly to Erivo’s Instagram post but did not provide further remarks.

Directed by Jon M. Chu, Wicked is a two-part film adaptation of the beloved stage musical, with Cynthia Erivo playing Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda. The musical, based on L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and adapted for the stage by Stephen Schwartz, has become a Broadway classic since its debut in 2003.

The first part of Wicked— also featuring stars like Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Bowen Yang, and Peter Dinklage— is set to hit theaters on November 22.

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