Cynthia Erivo called out a fan-edited “Wicked” poster circulating online, describing it as “offensive” and “deeply hurtful.”
An official poster for the upcoming movie, which hits theaters in November, was released by distributor Universal Pictures earlier this month. (NBC News and Universal are both part of Comcast.)
The image features Ariana Grande’s character, Glinda, whispering to Erivo’s Elphaba. The film’s poster differs from the Broadway version, as it shows Elphaba’s eyes by lifting her hat and changes her lipstick color from red to green. Amid buzz for the musical, many online began pointing out the changes. One person altered the poster to cover Elphaba’s eyes, which prompted Erivo’s post.
“Our poster is an homage not an imitation, to edit my face and hide my eyes is to erase me,” Erivo wrote in her Instagram story on Wednesday. “And that is just deeply hurtful.”
The edited poster did not include changes to Glinda’s outfit or hair.
Erivo said the original Broadway poster was a illustration that wasn’t based on real actors, and that showing her face in the film version of the poster was a purposeful choice.
“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,” she wrote.
She described the edited version of the poster as “the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen,” and compared it to two offensive AI-created memes related to the film that have also been widely shared online. One image depicts Grande and Erivo punching each other as their characters. Another shows Grande’s character asking Erivo’s if the color of her genitals match the color of her green skin.
In a second Instagram story, Erivo posted the unedited version of the film’s poster, writing, “Let me put this right here, to remind you and cleanse your palette.”
“Wicked,” directed by Jon M. Chu, opens in theaters Nov. 22. Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum and Bowen Yang star alngside Erivo and Grande.
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