Cynthia Erivo slams offensive poster with Ariana Grande

Cynthia Erivo has blasted an edited Wicked poster featuring she and co-star Ariana Grande as she branded it the ‘wildest, most offensive.’

The 37-year-old acrtess took to her Instagram Story on Wednesday to repost an edited version of the recently unveiled poster for her new film which is a remake of the stage version.

She wrote: ‘This is the wildest, most offensive thig I have seen.’

Cynthia went on to compare it to the questions that have been sent her way regarding her green skin in the film.

She continued: ‘None of this is funny. None of it is cute. It degrades me. It degrades us.

Cynthia Erivo has blasted an edited Wicked poster featuring she and co-star Ariana Grande as she branded it the ‘wildest, most offensive’

‘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, the viewer …because, without words we communicate with our eyes.’

The talented actress then went on to describe the differences between the original musical and the theatric version.

‘Our poster is an homage not an imitation,’ she said, before adding, ‘to edit my face and hide my eyes is to erase me. And that is just deeply hurtful.. ‘

This comes days after the dynamic duo attempted to recreate the iconic 2003 poster for the original San Francisco theatrical production of Wicked for Jon M. Chu’s upcoming big-screen adaptation, which frustrated fans of the Broadway musical.

In it, the 31-year-old Florida-born pop star wore a crown rather than a white hood while the British-Nigerian 37-year-old showed her eyes and did not smirk with red lipstick.

X user @schlife tweeted: ‘Cannot believe it took them this long to recreate the poster and they fumbled it so hard.’

‘The subtle grin is the most iconic part of the poster, why is she just going [no expression emoji]?’ X user @Sweeney_Daily wondered.

X user @strstyler tweeted: ‘Would it have been too hard to give her red lipstick, pull down the hat over her eyes and make her smirk a lil? She just looks like [a straight-faced meme].’

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo attempted to recreate the iconic 2003 poster for the original San Francisco theatrical production of Wicked for Jon M. Chu’s upcoming big-screen adaptation, which frustrated fans of the Broadway musical

In it, the 31-year-old Florida-born pop star (R) wore a crown rather than a white hood while the British-Nigerian 37-year-old (L) showed her eyes and did not smirk with red lipstick

X user @Picsart Photoshopped their own version of the Wicked poster, which was captioned: ‘Fixed it hope this helps!’

Ariana proudly Instastoried the new poster and gushed: ‘I love you @cynthiaerivo and I cannot wait for the world to experience your sheer, utter magnificence in this… I’m just sayin’. I love you, here we go!’

Cynthia – who’s an Oscar away from EGOT status – then replied via Instastory: ‘@arianagrande what a moment in time. What a wonder we get to experience together! I can’t wait for people to be blown away by you and your utter love and care for Glinda (and truly Elphie). It’s time now. I’ve got you. I love you.’

Grande (born Butera) and Erivo star as Shiz University witch roommates Glinda Upland and Elphaba Thropp in Wicked, and tickets for the first part officially went on sale Wednesday ahead of the November 27th release date.

The two-time Grammy winner notoriously met her married boyfriend Ethan Slater – who plays munchkin-turned-tinman Boq – on the London set of Wicked, which doesn’t release its second part until November 26, 2025.

Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle, and Peter Dinklage also star in the highly-anticipated, two-part fantasy flick.

Fans can also pre-order Wicked: The Soundtrack, featuring all 11 songs from act one, on Wednesday ahead of its official November 22 release.

On Wednesday, NBC released a promo for Ariana’s second time hosting Saturday Night Live, in which she warned the staff: ‘I would really prefer to no to do anything Wicked or Wizard of Oz related.’

X user @schlife tweeted: ‘Cannot believe it took them this long to recreate the poster and they fumbled it so hard’

‘The subtle grin is the most iconic part of the poster, why is she just going [no expression emoji]?’ X user @Sweeney_Daily wondered

X user @strstyler tweeted: ‘Would it have been too hard to give her red lipstick, pull down the hat over her eyes and make her smirk a lil? She just looks like [a straight-faced meme]’

X user @Picsart Photoshopped their own version of the Wicked poster, which was captioned: ‘Fixed it hope this helps!’

Ariana proudly Instastoried the new poster and gushed: ‘I love you @cynthiaerivo and I cannot wait for the world to experience your sheer, utter magnificence in this… I’m just sayin’. I love you, here we go!’

Cynthia – who’s an Oscar away from EGOT status – then replied via Instastory: ‘@arianagrande what a moment in time. What a wonder we get to experience together! I can’t wait for people to be blown away by you and your utter love and care for Glinda (and truly Elphie). It’s time now. I’ve got you. I love you’

Grande (born Butera) and Erivo star as Shiz University witch roommates Glinda Upland and Elphaba Thropp in Wicked, and tickets for the first part officially went on sale Wednesday ahead of the November 27th release date 

The two-time Grammy winner notoriously met her married boyfriend Ethan Slater (L) – who plays munchkin-turned-tinman Boq – on the London set of Wicked, which doesn’t release its second part until November 26, 2025 

Jeff Goldblum (L), Michelle Yeoh (R), Jonathan Bailey, Marissa Bode, Bowen Yang, Bronwyn James, Keala Settle, and Peter Dinklage also star in the highly-anticipated, two-part fantasy flick

Fans can also pre-order Wicked: The Soundtrack, featuring all 11 songs from act one, on Wednesday ahead of its official November 22 release

On Wednesday, NBC released a promo for Ariana’s second time hosting Saturday Night Live, in which she warned the staff: ‘I would really prefer to no to do anything Wicked or Wizard of Oz related’

The camera then cut to (from L-R) SNL’s Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow, Marcello Hernández, and Andrew Dismukes wearing cheap costumes of the Lion, Dorothy Gale, Scarecrow, and Tin Man: ‘May we come back in one hour?’

Grande replied: ‘Sure’

The camera then cut to SNL’s Devon Walker, Michael Longfellow, Marcello Hernández, and Andrew Dismukes wearing cheap costumes of the Lion, Dorothy Gale, Scarecrow, and Tin Man.

‘May we come back in one hour?’ Dismukes asked.

Grande replied: ‘Sure.’

Two-time Grammy winner Stevie Nicks – who last served musical guest duties in 1983 – will return to 30 Rock to perform her new single, The Lighthouse.