Wicked actress Cynthia Erivo hosted the CFDA Fashion Awards in New York City Oct. 28 and shared that her impassioned response to a fan’s edit of the film poster “wasn’t necessarily a clapback.”
Cynthia Erivo is green with passion for Wicked.
That is why the Tony Award winner—who portrays Elphaba in the film alongside Ariana Grande’s Glinda the Good Witch—didn’t hold back when she recently criticized an edit of the movie poster that had been tweaked to more closely resemble the Broadway show’s art.
“It wasn’t necessarily a clapback,” Cynthia told Entertainment Tonight Oct. 28 on the red carpet of the CFDA Fashion Awards. “I think I’m really protective of the role. I am passionate about it and I know that the fans are passionate about it, and I think for me it was just a human moment of wanting to protect little Elphaba.”
And while she knows she caused a stir with her social media remarks, she stands by what she said. Laughing, she added, “I probably should have called my friends, but it’s fine.”
Earlier this month, upon the release of Wicked’s movie poster, a fan made some edits to obscure Cynthia’s eyes like in the stage show’s poster. To which, she posted a strong, heartfelt response to social media.
“Our poster is an homage not an imitation,” the Oscar nominee continued. “To edit my face and hide my eyes is to erase me. And that is just deeply hurtful.”
Universal PicturesAs for how Cynthia’s co-lead in the two-part film feels about the editing debacle? Ariana shared her support for her friend—and also expressed concern about artificial intelligence (another viral post featured an AI-generated live-action poster of Cynthia and Ariana fighting).
“I have so much respect for my sister, Cynthia, and I love her so much,” the “7 Rings” singer told Variety Oct. 19. “It’s just a big adjustment period. It’s so much stimulation about something that’s so much bigger than us.”
(E! and Universal Pictures are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)