Cynthia Erivo comments on Wicked poster edits: "the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen"

[babarsuhail]

Cynthia Erivo has reacted to viral edits of the ‘WICKED’ poster:

“This is the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen, equal to that awful AI of us fighting… Our poster is an homage not an imitation, to edit my face & hide my eyes is to erase me. That is just deeply hurtful” pic.twitter.com/y3P1Qh379S
- DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 16,

Comments

[wefindinthesea]

So I want to be mindful that she’s faced a lot of racism both throughout her career AND specifically in regard to this casting and I can absolutely see how things that may seem benign or at worst mildly annoying to us probably feel way worse and more hurtful to her as a result. I’ll even say that while the “is your pussy green” joke is genuinely a years old one at this point and I do see the humour in it, I get why she does not want it attached to her. So with all that being said: this feels like an absolutely insane overreaction to a fan edit that was posted in a (from what I see) completely benign way by the OG fan account she reposted. The caption is just “Malvadas 💚💖” on the fan edit. And I’d note that Ariana was also changed; her hand was moved to have more of her face and her dimple covered. So it wasn’t just Cynthia edited, which was again an initial thought I had seeing her story.

I honestly think the critiques of the poster are completely valid overall anyway: the Broadway poster isn’t just iconic because it’s old, it’s because the smirk and eyes covered were both really captivating and mysterious and did a fantastic job at starting the theme of retelling the story of a nominally “wicked” character. If Cynthia is saying part of the reason it is “offensive” to edit this poster is because she made a purposeful acting choice, she is also suggesting that critiquing her acting is not permissible, which is equally wild. I’m not someone to whine about posters and trailers not being good enough or to really think “the fans are always right.” But when a fan account posts a totally benign edit that aligns with a famous original poster, maybe bitch in the cast groupchat about it and by all means feel free to not praise or repost it. But this reaction seems really disproportionate and unfair to that account.

[varioussaints]

Thank you for pointing out the unfairness in her response when considering the perspective of the fan responsible for the edit. She didn't have to include a specific edit in her response, especially since I genuinely don't think the fan was trying to criticize the movie poster but instead just have some fun and reimagine it. I would be absolutely crushed if I made an edit and received this kind of response.

[dinkerd]

This isn't the first time she's done something like this either. I remember years ago she lashed out at a fan who had included her as one of the muses in their Hercules fancast because she thought that role would be beneath her lol. This was a random teenager mind you, not someone with actual power in the industry. Got the West End community all riled up at the time because they felt like her response to this fancast was disrespectful towards ensemble performers.

[varioussaints]

Oh jeez. :( I won't lie, I'm not super familiar with her in general, only that she's dealt with a lot of unnecessary shit for being cast as Elphaba, but lashing out at a fan who would be excited to see you in a role is so unnecessary. It was a fancast, not a summons. Also, aren't the muses named parts, not ensemble roles? They might not be the stars, sure, but they have some of the most memorable parts of the entire show (assuming that the musical follows the Disney movie). So it's no wonder to me that people took issue with it. If anything less than a lead is beneath you, what does that make everyone else?

[iamkenough]

Damn I had no clue she’s this way 🥲 she was cute in interviews