Annie Walton Doyle
Cynthia Erivo, the star of Wicked, called a fan-edited movie poster the ‘most offensive thing’ she’s encountered – and now, the fan has responded.
The film, a musical fantasy eagerly awaited by audiences, draws from Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel and L. Frank Baum’s classic, ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ from 1900.
The story’s first act explores Elphaba’s journey towards becoming the Wicked Witch of the West, alongside her unexpected friendship and eventual rivalry with Glinda the Good Witch.
With a talented cast featuring Erivo, Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Jonathon Bailey, and Ethan Slater, this film is set to be a major hit.
Recently, a dramatically altered promotional poster for Wicked went viral, and Erivo expressed her displeasure with the edit.
But now, the fan has offered their response.
In support of Erivo’s reaction, one fan stated: “Wow, that fan-edited Wicked poster is wild! Cynthia Erivo’s right to call it out – it’s super offensive and disrespectful.”
Another added: “Cynthia had every right to be upset about the Wicked poster and I think a lot of you forget she’s human. And most importantly, it’s her opinion.”
A third supporter mentioned: “The Wicked poster was never going to be exact because it was animated vs a live-action and Cynthia got every right to be upset.”
Conversely, some believe Erivo has ‘overreacted’ to the edit.
One critic remarked: “The musical fans just wanted a poster that matched the musical poster. It wasn’t a personal attack. I think she’s overreacting on that.”
Another added: “They (rabid online Wicked fans) were editing the photo to look like the musical… She’s overreacted to an astounding degree.”
A different comment noted: “Really? They just made the new poster similar to the old one. And the old one is a classic.”
In the midst of this debate, co-star Ariana Grande shared her perspective, describing the situation as ‘very complicated.’
Speaking to Variety, Grande reflected: “I think it’s very complicated because I find AI so conflicting and troublesome sometimes, but I think it’s just kind of such a massive adjustment period. This is something that is so much bigger than us, and the fans are gonna have fun and make their edits.”
When asked if she believed fans might sometimes cross a line, Grande replied: “I think so. And I have so much respect for my sister, Cynthia, and I love her so much. It’s just a big adjustment period. It’s so much stimulation about something that’s so much bigger than us.”
The official poster for the Wicked musical features Elphaba with her eyes obscured by the brim of her hat and bright red lips in a grin, while the film adaptation shows Erivo looking directly at the camera without the bold lip color.
The edited posters circulating online bring the image closer to the original illustration, which covers Erivo’s face.
Expressing her feelings about the edited version, Erivo shared on her Instagram and X (formerly Twitter): “This is the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen, equality to that awful AI of us fighting, equal to people post the question ‘is your ***** green.’ None of this is funny. None of it is cute. It degrades me. It degrades us.
“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.”
Ok so I’ve decided to repost this – the last few days have been wild & have helped me realise that the initial reaction was largely overblown. This is, and always was, an innocent fan edit to pay homage to the original Broadway poster, and there’s nothing wrong with that! pic.twitter.com/XeyWPt2tvF
— 🇵🇸 (@midosommar) October 20, 2024
And now, the creator of the fan-made Wicked poster has responded after Cynthia Erivo shared her thoughts on it.
Sharing their thoughts on X, formerly Twitter, they said: “Ok so I’ve decided to repost this – the last few days have been wild & have helped me realize that the initial reaction was largely overblown.
“This is, and always was, an innocent fan edit to pay homage to the original Broadway poster, and there’s nothing wrong with that!”
They also addressed claims about others taking credit for their work, saying: “I’ve also seen some people take credit for this and don’t think that’s totally fair so I’m coming out of the woodwork lol.”
They continued, explaining: “While I deleted it initially as I felt it was the right thing to do, fan posters have been around for as long as movies have existed. I never meant to cause any harm and the poster is just a homage to the original Broadway poster, just like the movie’s recreation is.”
The creator also noted that no AI was used in creating the poster and that they now want to keep it online.
They concluded by saying: “Also, I will say that Cynthia is valid in having her feelings on the matter, and I’m also valid in wanting to keep my version of the poster up as I truly meant no harm with it and just made it as a way to show love for the original. Both can be true.”
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