Cynthia Erivo is reacting to an edited version of the "Wicked" movie poster she calls the "wildest, most offensive thing I have seen."
The Tony-winning actress shared the edited version of the poster to her Instagram story on Wednesday, a version of the forthcoming movie's poster that more closely resembles that of the iconic poster for the Broadway show.
Kristin Chenoweth on why Ariana Grande starring in the 'Wicked' films is 'full circle'Notably, the Broadway show's poster hides the face of Elphaba, the green-skinned character Erivo plays in the film adaptation. The official poster for the upcoming Jon M. Chu-directed film features Erivo looking straight to the camera, face unobscured.
"This is the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen, equal to that awful Ai of us fighting, equal to people posing the question 'is your ***** green,'" Erivo, 37, wrote alongside the edited image. "None of this is funny. None of it is cute. It degrades me. It degrades us."
"The original poster is an ILLUSTRATION," Erivo explained, referencing the Broadway show's poster. "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."
Erivo concluded her post defending the official movie poster, "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 Grammy-winning singer, in another Instagram story post, shared the movie's official poster and wrote, "Let me put this right here, to remind you and cleanse your palette 💚💚."
In what appeared to be an act of solidarity, Ariana Grande, who plays Glinda in the film opposite Erivo, also shared the movie's official poster to her Instagram story after Erivo's posts went live. Chu also posted the film's official poster that Erivo had shared on his Instagram story, calling the actress "my superhero."
"Wicked" arrives in theaters Nov. 22.
