A now-viral, fan-edited poster for “Wicked” has sparked a chain reaction, with Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande – who play enemies Elphaba Thropp and Glinda Upland in the upcoming film – finding themselves at the center of an online firestorm.

As both stars traveled across the country to promote the film adaptation of the Broadway musical, set to hit theaters on November 22, new photos of the film’s poster were shared with the public, recreating images from the musical that inspired it . However, there were some minor changes that a fan complained about online – namely the fact that Elphaba’s eyes were visible and not covered by the brim of her witch’s hat like in the original Playbill – so they changed it.

Using the power of Photoshop, the fan took to TikTok to showcase her edit of the poster, with her version pulling the witch’s hat further into Erivo’s face and covering her eyes. The editing also changed Elphaba’s lip color from green to red and her lips were drawn upwards. It’s safe to say the change wasn’t taken lightly by Erivo, who harshly criticized it in a post on Instagram, writing: “This is the wildest and most offensive thing I’ve ever seen, on par with that horrible Ai of ours who fight, equal to people.” Ask the question, “Is your ass green?” None of this is funny. None of it is sweet. It humiliates me. It demeans us.”

Erivo continued, in a sentence now heavily memorized: “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. Our poster is a homage and not an imitation. To edit my face and hide my eyes is to erase me. And that’s just deeply hurtful.”

Since Erivo addressed the fan-released poster controversy, there has been a noticeable increase in nasty memes about her, dismissing her statements.

Why is the internet trolling Erivo so hard about this? And what does Grande say about it? Salon explains everything:

The internet memeed Erivo not once, but twice

When Erivo called out the edited fan poster, the Tony winner also mentioned her dislike of an AI-generated video of the poster, which shows Erivo and Grande fighting each other. The AI ​​video was viewed a million times

Worse still, another meme sexualizing Elphaba is circulating online with the text: “Is your pussy green?”

Erivo made it clear to “Wicked” fans that this was unacceptable.

In her statement about the poster, Erivo highlighted the offensiveness of it, writing: “I am a real human being who has chosen to look directly through the camera at you, the viewer… because without words.” We communicate with our eyes. However, this line is used in an endless meme format on X, with countless tweets that have been viewed millions of times.

An X user criticized her comment by sharing a video of a green drag queen with wide eyes.

Author and journalist Hunter Harris praised Build-A-Bear’s new “Wicked” bears: “Elphaba chose to look directly down the barrel of the camera at you, the viewer – good.”

Another user, who posted a photo of Karlie Kloss’ Met Gala photo looking the camp “directly in the eyes,” wrote, “Cynthia Erivo is looking directly into the barrel of the camera, to you, the viewer.” to look in the eyes.”

One person even brought Halsey’s viral “The Greatest Impersonator” tribute to Britney Spears into the mix, writing, “I hope she doesn’t impersonate Cynthia Erivo because that would just be deeply hurtful, like erasing her.”

Ariana Grande’s statement and answers to it

Following the meme storm, Ervio’s co-star Ariana Grande addressed the controversy in a quote to Variety at the Academy Museum Gala on Saturday.

“I think it’s very complicated because I find AI so contradictory and problematic sometimes, but I think it’s just a pretty big adjustment period. This is something that is much bigger than us and the fans are going to have fun and make their changes,” Grande explained.

When asked if the memes and AI have gone too far, Grande said: “I think so. And I have so much respect for my sister Cynthia and I love her so much.

However, people online aren’t buying Grande’s support for her actor.

“You can tell she doesn’t feel that way, but she was very respectful and considerate of Cynthia’s feelings.” A fan wrote to X.

“Why would you even ask her that? Of course she wanted to avoid the question, she won’t offend Cynthia no matter what she actually thinks about the memes,” another fan posted.

Additionally, others defended Erivo, saying that black women face higher levels of harassment and ridicule online.

“People are bullying Cynthia Erivo now and yes it is rooted in misogyny,” one fan chimed in. “She said she didn’t like the memes and people purposely make memes to humiliate her and disrespect her and they even tag her. “So she’ll see. They would never treat Ariana like that.

Even a major unofficial Wicked Update account weighed in on the mess, writing in a post: “You guys are always talking about mental health and how sad it is when something happens to someone, but then you continue to bully and harass celebrities.” You have already stated that they feel uncomfortable. You are all heartless and performative.