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Cynthia Erivo criticizes the fan-made ‘Wicked’ poster, saying it demeans her
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Cynthia Erivo criticizes the fan-made ‘Wicked’ poster, saying it demeans her

Cynthia Erivo defies gravity and is fan-made Evil Film images.

The Oscar-nominated actress on Wednesday criticized an unofficial change to the upcoming musical film’s new poster after select Internet users objected to the image’s reference to the original stage show’s iconic animated one-sheet, which features Glinda (Ariana Grande in the film) whispering can be seen in Elphaba’s (Erivo) ear.

“This is the wildest, most offensive thing I have ever seen. It’s akin to that horrible Ai of us arguing, akin to people asking the question if you’re green,” Erivo, 37, wrote alongside a picture of the edited poster with shadows on her Instagram Story, the Erivos Covering eyes – which were seen on the film’s official poster, but are hidden under the brim of Elphaba’s hat in the Broadway version.

The “Wicked” movie poster and the “Wicked” Broadway poster.

Universal Images; The Hartman Group


“None of this is funny. None of it is sweet. It humiliates me. It demeans us,” Erivo continued, pointing to viral memes that used AI to create footage showing Grande and Erivo punching each other while wearing costumes and another meme trend like Grande’s Character Erivo asks if the color of her genitals matches the color of her green skin.

Erivo’s message continued: “The original poster is an ILLUSTRATION. I am a real human being who has chosen to look directly through the barrel of the camera at you, the viewer… because without words, we communicate with our eyes. It’s our poster.” A homage, not an imitation. To edit my face and hide my eyes is to erase me. And that is just deeply hurtful.

Cynthia Erivo’s Instagram story.

Cynthia Erivo/Instagram


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When reached for a response, a Universal representative did not comment but instead pointed Weekly entertainment to Erivo’s Instagram message.

The first part of director Jon M. Chu’s two-parter Evil In the film series, Erivo and Grande play the famous witch characters from the book by L. Frank Baum The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Stephen Schwartz initially adapted the project into a stage musical that appeared on Broadway in 2003 and became one of the most popular musicals of modern times.

Evil – also starring Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathan Bailey, Bowen Yang and Peter Dinklage – hits theaters November 22nd. See Erivo’s message above.

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