Cynthia Erivo called out fans who used AI to generate their own versions of the “Wicked” movie poster.
The actress expressed her disappointment in one poster that featured her eyes covered and her lips painted red.
Pop signer Ariana Grande stars as Glenda, the good witch, while Erivo plays the green witch Elphaba.
The original movie poster shows Erivo’s eyes and green lips to match her green skin.
But in the fan version of the poster, Erivo’s eyes are covered by the brim of her black hat and her lips are red.
Erivo took offense to fans “erasing” her in the movie poster.
“This is the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen equal to that awful AI of us fighting, equal to people posing the the question ‘is your p—- green?’” Erivo wrote on her Instagram stories. “None of this is funny. None of it is cute. It degrades me. It degrades us.”
She continued: “The original poster is an Illustration. “I am a real life human being, who chose to to look right down the barrel of the camera to you, the viewer …because, without words we communicate with our eyes. 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 response to Erivo’s rant was mixed. Some fans defended her, but others said the fan’s AI poster was an improvement over the original movie poster.
Part 1 of the movie “Wicked” opens in theaters Nov. 22 from Universal Pictures. Part 2 will arrive in theaters in 2025.
Don’t go see the movie.
Let this crazy lady speak, and respectfully respond by refusing to see her movie. That will show her the support she is begging for!
— LizzieMiller (@LizzieM12807558) October 16, 2024
Everyone complaining that they didn’t recreate the Broadway poster to the tee needs to get a hobby. Put the phone down and go touch grass.
— Jordan Ross Schindler (@jrschindy) October 16, 2024
Covering up her face makes the movie poster consistent with the one from the musical. So NOT an issue.
As for those ‘Green P’ memes, stupid people will always do stupid things on the Internet.
— La Reina??Creole???????????????? (@LaReinaCreole) October 16, 2024
