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

[melancolour]

I do think it's hyperbole, but i also thought the fan edits should have kept her eyes/the ones that did keep the eyes is better. I think the biggest issue with the poster is the placement of Ariana's hand, not that her eyes were visible.

[rihaty]

I think the edit with Ariana’s hand looks weird and find it more appealing to see her nose. I wish Cynthia had a different expression, though. I understand why she may be upset, but I don’t think the fan edits intended any malice. I do think saying they were “erasing her” is a bit much.

[wefindinthesea]

I think to me, the biggest misfires on the poster were Ariana’s hand (agree with you there) and Cynthia’s lack of smirk. The eyes and lip colour I felt more neutral on; I like the dramatic swerve of the hat in the drawn musical poster and red is a nice pop of colour but also don’t mind the green lips at all and Cynthia has striking eyes so that’s sort of a wash to me. I think the smirk though plays into the fact that this is going to be a retelling of the WICKED witch of the west, and a reimagining of that tale. I respect her point that she was trying to make a connection with the viewer and get your point on how the eye contact helps, but she is also playing a specific character and I think Elphaba smirking on the poster is really striking and works well with what the climax of the first film will be (Defying Gravity). Totally respect other opinions on this though!

[melancolour]

Totally agreed

[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

[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?

[rabbitofalice]

annoying and unnecessary, but also tone-deaf

[anterrabre]

Considering some of the harmful things she's said about certain folks I have thoughts about this but going to keep my mouth shut.

[lulufairybubble]

👀

[amanda_aces]

I am keeping my ghetto Black American mouth shut, but not speaking on this woman is starting to wear on me, and we have two movies to get through.

[syvlie0o0]

Darling, all of these presumptions!

[v_is_for_violet]

Omg this is so over the top lol gonna channel this energy later for when my coworkers inevitably do something annoying but not that big of deal in the grand scheme of things