Cynthia Erivo slams ‘offensive’ fan-made Wicked poster: ‘It degrades me’
Cynthia Erivo. (Getty)
Wicked star Cynthia Erivo has slammed a fan-made re-design of the musical film’s poster to resemble the Broadway musical, calling it the ‘wildest, most offensive thing’.
The Wicked publicity train is full steam ahead, with new trailers, posters and sneak peeks at the adaptation of the hit musical starring Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Bowen Yang and – of course – Cynthia Erivo, dropping every day.
In amongst such nuggets as Bailey in really tight trousers singing “Dancing Through Life” and multiple teases of Erivo’s new take on the iconic “Defying Gravity” riff are countless fan edits and memes; but the top billing star seems to have taken issue with both.
A poster of Grande and Erivo recreating WICKED‘s iconic Broadway poster was released earlier this month, depicting Galinda whispering into Elphaba’s ear; the movie’s poster was altered so that Elphaba/ Erivo’s face was clearly visible, rather than her eyes being obscured by her hat, and Galinda/ Grande’s hand was placed lower on her face.
Ariana Grande & Cynthia Erivo recreate the iconic ‘WICKED’ Broadway poster. pic.twitter.com/dl1eqFgEqK
— Pop Base (@PopBase) October 9, 2024
A edit of the iconic shot was then posted to Instagram account @wickedfansmexico, to more closely resemble the original Broadway poster, lowering Elphaba’s hat and moving Grande’s hand; something that Erivo took to her Instagram Story to slam.
“This is the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen, equal to that awful Ai [sic] of us fighting, equal to people posing the question ‘Is your pu**y green’,” she wrote.
“None of this is funny, none of it is cute, it degrades me, it degrades us,” Erivo continued.
“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 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.”
maybe i'm going to sound mean, but cynthia needs to chill out because it's not that serious, memes have always existed pic.twitter.com/bWPpRNfrbQ
— 𓏲 ๋࣭ ࣪ ˖ (@cringhoul) October 16, 2024
But, many fans aren’t convinced that the edit really is “the wildest, most offensive thing” that Ervio has ever seen.
For one, the reference to the question “Is your pu**y green,” actually originates from some graffiti written on Wicked‘s Broadway show’s poster, according to Know Your Meme. The graffiti was posted to Imgur in 2014.
“The meme has existed for well over a decade, doll,” one user wrote on X.
Another wrote: “PR training should come with meme education bc how did cynthia erivo not know “Is your pu**y green” had the role 10 years before her.”
Users have also expressed the opinion that the redesigned fan poster is not as heinous as Erivo states.
“It isn’t even that serious! Especially because the original poster does exist. They didn’t just hide her face to hide it,” one said.
Another opined: “I get it but also…. the most offensive thing she has seen?”
pic.twitter.com/0IvMf89iZq https://t.co/3bMkrIh1KA
— Tom Zohar (@TomZohar) October 16, 2024
Of course, a few have also taken Erivo’s side in the matter.
“I kinda get it,” one wrote. “The theatre production poster was designed to be marketable with whoever was performing the lead roles as their faces weren’t visible. This is the role of a lifetime on the big screen. I’d want to see my face on the poster too.”
The original maker of the edit, an X account named @midosommar, has since released a statement after deleting the original post.
“My initial intent with the poster was not malicious in any way – it was an edit I made in 10 mins to pay homage to the original poster and had no intention of it blowing up like it did. I deleted the original post out of respect for Cynthia,” they said.
My initial intent with the poster was not malicious in any way – it was an edit I made in 10 mins to pay homage to the original poster and had no intention of it blowing up like it did. I deleted the original post out of respect for Cynthia.
— 🇵🇸 (@midosommar) October 16, 2024
Starring Erivo, Grande, Bailey and Yang alongside Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum and more, Wicked is set to be released on 22 November in the United States. Wicked Part Two is scheduled to be released on November 21, 2025.
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