With one month to go until the debut of Wicked in movie theaters around the world, promotion for the musical adaptation is heating up.
And so is Cynthia Erivo.
The star blew up on her social media after an edited poster from the film went viral, slamming the edit as being both ‘offensive’ and ‘degrading’.
For both her and her co-star, Ariana Grande.
Of course, this is nothing new for the pair – but now, the fight is being taken to the feed!
Cynthia Erivo Reacts to Viral Edit of the ‘WICKED’ Poster
“This is the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen.”
The woman behind Elphaba in the on-screen adaption of the musical took to Instagram on October 16 to share her displeasure with an altered version of the film’s poster.
As you will see below, the original version features Cynthia dressed in Elphaba’s signature black witch’s hat and glowing green face looking directly into the camera.
In the edited version, Cynthia’s eyes and face are covered by the brim of the hat. The move to “erase” Cynthia from the poster was not one she could abide by.
“None of this is funny. None of this is cute. It degrades me. It degrades us,” wrote on her Instagram Stories.
Her reaction was met with confusion by many fans, both of hers and of the original production of Wicked.
Many took the edit to simply be an homage to the original poster for the musical, and nothing more.
Cynthia Erivo reacts to the viral edits of the ‘WICKED’ poster:
“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… pic.twitter.com/r8xuox97DL
— Pop Tingz (@ThePopTingz) October 16, 2024
Something Has Changed Within Me
On Tuesday, a TikTok user under the name Ferlozar posted a video with on-screen text suggesting they were “Fixing the Wicked movie poster.”
Using photoshop style tools, they made the above changes to make the Universal film poster more closely resemble the original poster that was used for the musical’s Playbills.
However, the user in no way changed Ariana’s clothes or look, despite Glinda’s outfit being white in the original illustrations and the character’s clothes being pink in the poster.
Clearly, Cynthia saw this as a purposeful insult, rather than making the poster “much better” as the TikTok creator posted.
“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,” Cynthia wrote.
Then, she addressed the fan criticism that the changes were just to match the original artwork.
“The original poster is an ILLUSTRATION. I am a real life human being, who chose to look right down the barrel of the camera to you, the viewer … because, without words we community without our eyes.”
“Our poster is an homage not an imitation,” she concluded. “To edit my face and hide my eyes is to erase me. And that is deeply hurtful.”
Early ‘Wicked’ Movie Reviews
Whether the intentions of the TikToker were malicious or simply oblivious, the whole ordeal likely won’t matter once Wicked hits theaters on November 22.
There’s no question that everyone will be talking about Cynthia Erivo non-stop after that!
With the movie over a month away, reviews are scarce as the studio is hoping to keep a lid on details and spoilers.
However, those who have attended test screening have taken to places like TikTok and Reddit to share their first impressions.
On one side, there’s the criticism by some who don’t feel that there is enough “added plot” to justify the Broadway musical being made into two movies. Yes, the show is in two Acts when performed in the theater, but for some, that’s not necessarily translating to the screen.
Others feel more “optimistic,” having heard from those who have seen the first cut of the film that it’s “excellent” and an “instant classic.” One theatergoer actually said it would be a major awards contender.
We’ll definitely know more once critics are allowed to share their thoughts, so we’ll keep you posted here!