‘Wildest, most offensive thing’: Why Cynthia Erivo doesn’t like your ‘Wicked’ fan art

The film poster for Wicked seemed fairly straightforward – a homage to the original Broadway poster with a hint of Hollywood flair. But Wicked fans weren’t convinced, leading some to edit it as they saw fit. The result? A feud between Cynthia Erivo and the musical’s fans, and a broader conversation around the ethics of fan art.

Cynthia Erivo (left) has slammed a fan edit of Wicked’s promotional poster, accusing it of “erasing” her.

Based on the 1995 novel and popular Broadway musical, Wicked’s poster recreated the original Broadway version, which shows Glinda the Good Witch whispering into the ear of Elphaba the Wicked Witch of the West. However, unlike the original, the film poster doesn’t conceal the characters’ faces, with Elphaba (Erivo) staring straight at the camera, and Glinda (Ariana Grande) barely covering her mouth.

Some fans felt this wasn’t as impactful as the original, leading X user “Midosommar” to create an edit in which Erivo’s eyes are covered and lips reddened.

Upon seeing this, Erivo described it as the “wildest, most offensive thing” she has seen.

“It degrades me. It degrades us,” she wrote on her Instagram Story two weeks ago. “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 … 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.”

Consequently, Midosommar removed the edit. “My initial intent with the poster was not malicious in any way — it was an edit I made in 10 mins to pay homage to the original poster,” they wrote. However, they re-posted the edit a few days later.

Some Wicked fans questioned Erivo’s reaction, arguing the edit was not intended as a form of erasure. Others created memes to poke fun at the situation, which they evidently considered an overreaction on Erivo’s part. Notably, Erivo told Entertainment Tonight this week she “probably should have called her friends” instead of publicly voicing her frustrations, adding that she’s “protective of the role”.

University of Adelaide media studies scholar Dr Jessica Ford says many believe that, upon release, cultural media belongs to the fans because it’s through consumption that meaning and value are generated.

“But thanks to social media, fan-generated content is now infinitely spreadable and reproducible. It can move beyond the tiny corner of the internet where it was initially posted. As such, the broader historical and cultural context of manipulating bodies, especially women’s, for consumption and pleasure comes into play.”

Sean Redmond, RMIT’s associate dean of media, writing and publishing, agrees, noting that though fan art is usually a way of creatively expressing admiration for something and engaging with fellow fans, the context around what is being adapted must be carefully considered.

“With Erivo, I detect a racial element in their upset. There’s a long tradition in Hollywood of erasing black actors … It’s part of a wider discourse where race and ethnicity are problematically addressed.”

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