Wicked has been promoted ad nauseam throughout 2024. It's poised to be one of the biggest films of the year, and the fanfare surrounding the adaptation of the stage play of the name has led fans to make edits of some of the Wicked artwork. In particular, the recreation of play's iconic poster.
Some fans derided the big screen recreation for lacking the subtly and nuance of the original poster, and made changes to it as a result. This did not go down well with one of Wicked's main stars, Cynthia Erivo. The actress took to social media on October 16 to make her frustrations with the fans known.
Cyntha Erivo felt the fan edits were 'degrading'
Cynthia Erivo has reacted to viral edits of the ‘WICKED’ poster:
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) October 16, 2024
“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
Erivo felt that the edits made to her face, in particular, which included hiding her eyes and changing the color of her lips, were "deeply hurtful" and dehumanized her as a performer. She made it clear she did not appreciate the fact that fans did not simply take the Wicked poster as is:
"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."
Erivo also made reference to a meme that has taken off recently, in which a crass joke is made between her character the character played by Ariana Grande. This frustrated her even further. The Oscar nominee dubbed the use of AI and image editing software to be "offensive" to both her and the people who created the original poster.
The actress also called out a Wicked meme
“This is the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen," she posited. "None of this is funny. None of it is cute. It degrades me. It degrades us." Erivo reminded fans that the original Wicked poster was drawn, whereas the film's poster featured real people.
This was a distinction she felt was important, especially given that her likeness is featured the most prominently. The reception to Erivo's statement has been mixed, with some fans pointing out that she had been reposting memes and edits on her Instagram Story, but the actress' assertions do still very much carry weight.