Cynthia Erivo addresses ‘sensitive’ reaction to fan-edited Wicked poster she called ‘most offensive thing ever’

Last month, a fan-edited poster for the new Wicked movie came under fire when star Cynthia Erivo slammed it as the ‘most offensive thing’ she’d seen.

"None of this is funny,” she wrote on social media as she shared the image.

“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."

Touching on the airbrushing of her eyes - as well as Glinda actor Ariana Grande's mouth and nose - she added: "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."

The Elphaba actress slammed the fan-edited image (Instagram/@cynthiaerivo)

Erivo, who stars opposite Grande as Elphaba, later said while on the red carpet at the 2024 CFDA Fashion Awards that she just feels ‘really protective’ of the project, admitting she ‘probably should have called’ a friend instead.

She echoed this idea while reflecting on the matter in a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, saying: "Having that passion for what this piece is and loving it so much and knowing how much I want to communicate through Elphaba, that’s probably where that came from.

"And so in my little human moment I had ... I fell out on the internet, when really I should have just picked up my phone and called a friend."

She went on: "We have these human moments. And me being human and sensitive, I shared something that I think is part of the little girl in me. I realize that there are so many people who love this just as much as I do."

Erivo said there are a number of ways she relates to Elphaba, admitting they both ‘lack patience’ - “Me more than her,” she added.

“I think we both have daddy issues,” Erivo continued.

“And we don’t mince our words, that’s for sure."

Erivo stressed that she was being 'human and sensitive' (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

She said that, as a Capricorn, she is also very ‘methodical’.

"We get things done. We tend to be know-it-alls. We have emotions, but we’re not necessarily the best at showing them. So sometimes they build and then all pop out at once.

"We can be deeply caring. We’re deeply loyal."

As for co-star Grande's stance? She told Variety that she finds AI 'so conflicting and troublesome sometimes'.

"But I think it’s just kind of such a massive adjustment period," Grande continued.

"This is something that is so much bigger than us, and the fans are gonna have fun and make their edits."

Asked directly whether she thinks accessibility to artificially-intelligent content has gone 'too far', she 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."