Cynthia Erivo Speaks Out Against Fan-Edited ‘Wicked’ Poster: “This Is Deeply Hurtful”

One of the stars of the much-awaited Wicked movie, recently took to social media to show her displeasure and anger over a fan-made poster. The first Wicked poster was of Erivo as Elphaba, the green witch character of the show, in body and full form. However, fans cropped the photo to blur her eyes and almost the entire face, and for this, Erivo had to come for the fan edit as it was outrageous.

Erivo went online to express herself on social media confronting emotions to say, “This is just deeply hurtful.” She contended that blurring the iris area and the rest of her face in the second picture is not an innocent artistic veil, but rather a removal of her personality. She said, “To conceal my eyes is to efface me,” which shows what a private experience playing Elphaba has been for her and why it must remain fully visible to the stans.

Her co-star in the show Wicked Ariana Grande has also posed for photographs wearing a Wicked costume portraying Glinda, the Good Witch. However, whereas fan edits of Grande’s character were made with much more regard, the editing of Erivo’s portrayal was much more contentious, specifically arguing that black actors in fandom and media are often treated unfairly.

With its two-part movie version in the works, Wicked has accelerated to perhaps the most-discussed movie adaptation of the past few years, and the choice of Erivo as Elphaba has been met with heaps of praise as a daring decision. Her reaction to the edited poster on social media is a good lesson as to why great care should be taken in choosing and portraying characters that are well-represented in media.

As more people begin to talk about Wicked, Erivo’s message also brings to the table the wider discourse of how people of color are portrayed in acting. It is important for her to maintain respect and integrity in how she celebrates being a woman rather than sell herself for cheap publicity.