Cynthia Erivo has previously spoken about how the edited poster ‘degrades’ her
The original creator of the fan-made Wicked poster has finally spoken out after Cynthia Erivo shared her feelings about it.
In the upcoming movie adaptation of the famous Broadway musical Wicked, Erivo stars as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, alongside Ariana Grande, who takes on the role of Glinda the Good Witch.
The film, like the musical, has been highly anticipated, and it will be released in two parts, with the first hitting theaters on November 22 in the US.
The story follows Elphaba, a misunderstood witch with green skin, who forms an unexpected friendship with Glinda, a student aiming for popularity.
When they encounter the Wizard of Oz, played by Jeff Goldblum, they uncover some dark secrets about him and the hidden corruption in Oz, which soon puts their friendship to the test.
The musical is incredibly well-loved, and so is its iconic poster, which shows Elphaba’s face partly hidden under her hat as Glinda leans in to whisper something.
Last week, Erivo, who is 37, expressed her strong feelings about a fan edit of one of the official film posters, calling it ‘deeply hurtful’ and ‘degrading’.
Now, the original creator of that fan edit has stepped forward to explain their intentions behind the design.
Taking to Twitter, they wrote: “Ok so I’ve decided to repost this – the last few days have been wild & have helped me realise that the initial reaction was largely overblown.”
Wicked star Cynthia Erivo was not happy with the fan’s edit
Instagram/@cynthiaerivo
“This is, and always was, an innocent fan edit to pay homage to the original Broadway poster, and there’s nothing wrong with that!”
“I’ve also seen some people take credit for this and don’t think that’s totally fair so I’m coming out of the woodworks lol.”
“While I deleted initially as I felt it was the right thing to do, fan posters have been around for as long as movies have existed.”
“I never meant to cause any harm and the poster is just a homage to the original broadway poster, just like the movie’s recreation is.”
The creator also took time to clarify that ‘no AI was used’ in the creation of the fan poster and that they now plan to keep the image up online.
Warner Bros recreated the musical’s iconic poster
Warner Bros.
They added: “Also, I will say that Cynthia is valid in having her feelings on the matter, and I’m also valid in wanting to keep my version of the poster up as I truly meant no harm with it and just made it as a way to show love for the original. Both can be true.”
Ariana Grande, who stars alongside Erivo, also shared her thoughts on the fan edits, expressing how she sometimes finds AI ‘conflicting and troublesome’.