When Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo landed the parts of Glinda and Elphaba they knew their lives were set to change forever.
Wicked is such a beloved Broadway hit that fans have been begging for a movie adaptation for years – with millions out there who would have given anything to land the leading roles.
And with Wicked: For Good set for release on Friday, the pair are gearing up to say goodbye to their characters.
Yet since Ariana, 32, and Cynthia, 38, were cast in 2021, the pair, and their castmates have been plagued by scandal.
Yet the road to the Emerald City wasn’t paved with gold, and was marred with scandals and traumatic events such as PTSD triggers, an alleged affair and concern over dramatic weight loss.
So where did it all go wrong for the cast of Wicked?
The curse of Wicked: How cast have been blighted during the five-year journey to bring Oz to the big screen (Ariana pictured, left in 2020 and right, this month)
Since Ariana, 32, and Cynthia, 38, were cast in 2021 the pair, and their castmates, have been plagued by scandal (Cynthia pictured, left in 2020 and right, this month)
Ethan Slater’s ‘affair’ with Ariana
In 2023, Ethan Slater hit headlines for an alleged affair with co-star Ariana, with the pair now officially dating.
The Boq actor had been married to his high-school sweetheart, Lilly Jay, a clinical psychologist, since 2018. The couple welcomed a son in August 2022.
Ethan filed for divorce on July 26, 2023, five years after he tied the knot.
At the time, Ariana was still married to Dalton Gomez; she filed for divorce in September 2023 and listed the date of separation as February 20, 2023.
Both parties announced they had split from their spouses within a few days of each other.
It was later alleged that Ariana and Ethan were involved romantically for months before, having grown close while on the set of the movie.
An insider said that the pair were so open with their romance during filming that the majority of the Wicked cast were aware that they were in a relationship.
‘They were sloppy on set,’ the insider shared. ‘They were seen being all over each other.
In 2023, Ethan Slater hit headlines for an alleged affair with his co-star Ariana Grande, whom he’s now dating
The Boq actor had been married to his high-school sweetheart, Lilly Jay, a clinical psychologist, since 2018. The couple welcomed a son in August 2022
‘They were seen making out at a pub in Hampstead, and they were all over each other at Michelle Yeoh’s Oscar party [in March].’
Lilly fueled rumours of an affair as she claimed she had been blindsided by the relationship in a scathing personal essay published by New York Magazine subset The Cut.
The scorned wife described the fallout as a ‘darkness’ that she struggled to ‘escape’ while trying to ‘accept the sudden public downfall of my marriage.’
Lilly later damned Ariana in a series of disparaging interviews, telling Page Six the music artist is ‘not a girl’s girl’ and adding that ‘my family is just collateral damage’ to her.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Lilly said last year that she was determined to move on with her life as a single mother.
Ambush that triggered Ariana’s PTSD
Insiders say Ariana has been triggered and her PTSD is back after she was ambushed by a crazed man while walking the red carpet last week
An army of bodyguards were forced to step in as the man jumped a barrier and grabbed hold of the diminutive singer-turned-actress
A little over eight years ago, Ariana was swarmed by security and rushed from Manchester Arena after a terrorist bombing left 22 dead and over 1,000 injured.
Many of the victims, who had come to see Ariana sing, were children.
The singer herself sank into a deep depression that left her feeling her life needed to be ‘saved’.
This week, a source told Daily Mail that the singer has been triggered and her PTSD is back after she was ambushed by a crazed man while walking the red carpet last week.
At the Singapore premiere of her new movie Wicked: For Good, Ariana’s co-star Cynthia and an army of bodyguards were forced to step in as the man jumped a barrier and grabbed hold of the diminutive singer-turned-actress.
A Daily Mail investigation confirmed that this was a coordinated and planned attack on Grande by a repeat offender who has targeted multiple celebrities in the past, including singers Katy Perry and the Weeknd.
Johnson Wen, who goes by the creepy pseudonym ‘Pyjama Man’ and proudly boasts on Instagram that he is the ‘troll most hated’, posted a string of pictures and videos before and after his attack on Ariana.A little over eight years ago, Ariana was swarmed by security and rushed from Manchester Arena after a terrorist bombing left 22 dead and over 1,000 injured.
A little over eight years ago, Ariana was swarmed by security and rushed from Manchester Arena after a terrorist bombing left 22 dead and over 1,000 injured
The 22 people killed in the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017
In one particularly unhinged clip, he laughs maniacally as he describes his plan to ‘meet’ his ‘best friend’ Ariana, adding that he has been ‘dreaming about’ the moment.
‘Ariana has been trying to soothe herself because her mind automatically jumps to the darkest possibilities,’ our insider said.
‘When someone suddenly approaches or charges at her, it triggers her… almost like PTSD, as her mind immediately goes to the worst-case scenario.’
Following the horrific Manchester bombing in May 2017, Ariana’wanted to quit everything and become a hermit’, our insider said, adding that ‘she still has panic attacks.’
Ariana has previously spoken about struggling with PTSD following the tragic concert, telling British Vogue in 2018: ‘It’s hard to talk about because so many people have suffered such severe, tremendous loss … I feel like I shouldn’t even be talking about my own experience – like I shouldn’t even say anything. I don’t think I’ll ever know how to talk about it and not cry.’
Our insider explained that while Ariana ‘never wants to take the focus away from everyone who died in Manchester, she was a victim too, and deals with the aftermath of it every single day.’
Ariana feels that ‘if someone was willing to attack an entire arena she was in, then they’re capable of doing anything.’
Johnson was sentenced to nine days behind bars.
According to the Singaporean paper The Straits Times, the judge said that he had planned the disturbing move to get hits on social media.
Johnson was also called a ‘serial intruder’ by prosecutors.
Cynthia Erivo’s ‘erasure’ scandal
Back in October 2024, Cynthia blasted an edited Wicked poster featuring her and Ariana as she branded it the ‘wildest, most offensive’
The actress took to her Instagram Story to repost an edited version of the unveiled poster for the first film film which is a remake of the stage version
Back in October 2024, Cynthia blasted an edited Wicked poster featuring her and Ariana as she branded it the ‘wildest, most offensive.’
The actress took to her Instagram Story to repost an edited version of the unveiled poster for the first film 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.
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.. ‘
She then went on to post another Instagram Story featuring the official poster.
‘Let me put this right here,’ Cynthia wrote above the image, alongside two green hearts. ‘To remind you and cleanse your palette. ‘
Ariana and Cynthia’s uncontrollable tears
Throughout the Wicked press tour Ariana and Cynthia have been bawling their eyes out
Throughout the Wicked press tour Ariana and Cynthia have been bawling their eyes out.
The two stars have been playfully mocked for their teary appearances on social media.
Earlier this month, Cynthia revealed why she and Ariana have broken down in tears on so many occasions while promoting Wicked.
In a new interview, Cynthia admitted they get ‘very emotional’ while talking about the film.
Speaking on the Heart Breakfast show, Amanda Holden told Cynthia: ‘Every interview I’ve read Cynthia of you and Ariana, it just says that you end up in tears all the time.’
She said: ‘We do! And I think it’s because people have come in with such energy and they come in, their responses, their emotional responses come into the room with us, it’s the first time we’ve been able to talk about it, so we’re both reliving and rehashing all the things we’ve been through and the journey we’ve been on.
‘We can’t help it, we get very emotional about it.’
Amanda added: ‘Yeah, I don’t blame you. You went through COVID, you went through strikes, there was all kind of obstacles to overcome to make this movie.’
Cynthia then went onto say: ‘In fact, the very last song was filmed after the strike, so we were meant to finish and we couldn’t meet, ended up stopping and six months later finished with that.’
Elsewhere, Ariana also revealed that she and the cast of Wicked were in floods of tears every single day while shooting the upcoming film.
According to Ariana, Wicked was an emotional labour of love, and she and her fellow costars were not afraid of crying on the set.
Speaking on the Sentimental Men podcast, Ariana said: ‘Me, everyone, we all cried every day.’
‘Everyone cried. It was really beautiful.’
Sarcastically, Ariana added: ‘So that was terrible.’
Ariana’s dramatic weight loss
After Ariana dyed her hair a light blonde for her role as Glinda in 2023, fans began to voice their concerns about her appearance, and what appeared to be weight loss from her petite frame
After Ariana dyed her hair a light blonde for her role as Glinda in 2023, fans began to voice their concerns about her appearance, and what appeared to be weight loss from her petite frame.
The star then called on fans to be ‘gentler and less comfortable’ about remarking on her and other people’s bodies.
In a video shared to her social media, she said: ‘I was on a lot of antidepressants and drinking on them and eating poorly and at the lowest point of my life when I looked the way you consider my healthy, but that in fact wasn’t my healthy.
‘I know I shouldn’t have to explain that, but I do feel like maybe having an openness and some sort of vulnerability here will [mean] something good might come from it. I don’t know but that’s the first thing. Healthy can look different.’
She continued: ‘The second thing is, you never know what someone is going through. Even if you are coming from a loving place and a caring place, that person probably is working on it or has a support system that they are working on it with.
‘You never know. So be gentle with each other and with yourselves.’
The cast’s co-dependency
During an appearance on The Tonight Show on Tuesday, Ariana revealed that the cast has become codependent on one another
During an appearance on The Tonight Show on Tuesday, Ariana revealed that the cast has become codependent on one another.
Host Jimmy Fallon asked her if it was fun to reunite with her cast as filming for both movies wrapped up in January 2024.
Ariana replied: ‘Yeah, a lot of people are asking, ‘Are you going to miss each other?’
‘I’m like, “I don’t think we are going to have to miss each other at all”. We’ve become quite codependent, all of us.’
