Cynthia Erivo Reflects on Blasting Fan-MadeWickedPoster: 'I Probably Should Have Called My Friends'

Mar. 15, 2025

Cynthia Erivo on Oct. 28, 2024.Photo:John Nacion/Variety via Getty

John Nacion/Variety via Getty

Cynthia Erivois addressing her recentcondemnationof the fan-editedWickedposter that obscures her face.

As Erivo, 37, and fashion designer Zac Posen spoke withEntertainment Tonighton the red carpet at the2024 CFDA Fashion Awardson Monday, Oct. 28, the actress and singer explained that she is “really protective” of her role as Elphaba inWickedwhen asked why she decided to speak out about the viral poster.

“I’m passionate about it and I know the fans are passionate about it and I think for me it was just like a human moment of wanting to protect little Elphaba, and it was like a human moment,” she said. “I probably should have called my friends, but it’s fine.”

Cynthia Erivo on Oct. 28, 2024.John Nacion/Variety via Getty

“None of this is funny. None of it is cute. It degrades me. It degrades us,” Erivo wrote at the time, adding, “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.”

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“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 shared.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande on Oct. 28, 2024.Kevin Mazur/Getty

Kevin Mazur/Getty

“This is something that is so much bigger than us, and the fans are gonna have fun and make their edits,” Grande, 31, said during that event. “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.”

Wickedis in theaters Nov. 27, with themovie’s second partslated for Nov. 26, 2025.

source: people.com