Cynthia Erivo Slams ‘Offensive’ Viral ‘Wicked’ Movie Poster Memes That Obscure Her Face

Cynthia Erivo, who plays Elphaba in the upcoming Wicked movie, slammed the various viral edits on the film’s poster. 

Earlier this month, fans were inspired to edit the latest Wicked film poster to resemble the musical’s original illustration more closely. 

The poster, which features Ariana Grande as Glinda whispering into Erivo’s ear while she looks ahead, differs from the fan-based edits, as those depict Glinda cupping her hand to speak into the green witch’s ear as she smirks – her eyes covered by her long, pointy black hat. 

On the official poster, fans considered it an improvement since Erivo’s face is fully visible. 

Erivo, not pleased with the changes, took to her Instagram story on Wednesday, saying it was the “wildest, most offensive thing I have seen.”

“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,” she said. 

In the same upload, Erivo called out other edits that have gone viral, including one that made a cruel joke about Elphaba’s anatomy and an AI-generated video of Erivo and Grande fighting. 

“None of this is funny. None of this is cute,” Erivo wrote. “It degrades me. It degrades us.”

For the most part, Grande was left unedited – aside from her hand being moved higher to show less of her face. 

“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,” Erivo said. 

After blasting the fan-edited image, the Wicked star uploaded another story with the movie’s original artwork, saying, “Let me put this right here to remind you and cleanse your palette.” 

The film’s director, Jon Chu, reposted Erivo’s slide on his own Instagram story in support.

Fans were seemingly split over Erivo’s reaction to the edited poster, but many showed their support, agreeing that the actress’s response was justified. 

One X user wrote, “All of you supposed ‘Wicked fans’ should be ashamed of yourselves. I don’t care how much you love the original poster. For a show that’s all about prejudice and the color of a young woman’s skin, the racism couldn’t be any clearer. You do not deserve this film.”

Those who felt Erivo was overreacting said the edit was honoring the original Broadway poster. 

“Girl, they was not erasing you… people just wanted the new poster to match the same energy as the Original Wickedposter… you know, one with her eyes covered and she’s smirking…” one person wrote on X.

Part one of Wicked will be released in theaters on Nov. 22, and the second is expected to be released in November 2025. 

In 2023, Erivo spoke to uInterview exclusively about her role as a refugee in the film Drift opposite Alia Shawkat. “There’s a scene that we filmed in the abandoned hotel. While we were shooting it, there was a moment of quiet where we sat outside, me and Alia with our backs to everyone, just looking out at the horizon and I don’t know that anyone knew we were out there. It was just the two of us,” Erivo said. “And I don’t know why it keeps playing in my head, but it was one of those moments that felt really special.”