Ariana Grande weighs in on Wicked debate co-star called ‘degrading’

Ariana Grande has weighed in on the recent debate regarding a Wicked poster featuring her and Cynthia Erivo ahead of the film’s release on November 22.

Fans were torn earlier this month when a new poster for the Jon M. Chu adaptation of the hit Broadway musical was released, giving a modern take on the 2003 play’s most iconic picture.

This then led to fans recreating their own image, which Cynthia spoke out about, labelling it as ‘degrading’ as it removed what she was trying to achieve in the poster by making eye contact with the audience.

While her co-star, Ariana, has mostly kept her opinions to herself regarding the poster and how it has sat with fans, she has now shared her views, admitting it is a very ‘complicated’ matter, especially as it raises the topic of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

‘I think it’s very complicated because I find AI so conflicting and troublesome sometimes, but I think it’s just kind of such a massive adjustment period,’ she told Variety.

‘This is something that is so much bigger than us, and the fans are gonna have fun and make their edits.’

Ariana, who was at the Academy Museum Gala last night when she addressed the backlash, was also asked if she thinks fans can go ‘too far’, to which she said ‘I think so. And I have so much respect for my sister, Cynthia, and I love her so much.

‘It’s just a big adjustment period. It’s so much stimulation about something that’s so much bigger than us.’

The film poster shows Cynthia, 37, with her black hat on, long dark hair swept over her shoulder and green lipstick complimenting her green skin, Ariana, 32, looks to be whispering in the ear of the star while wearing a tiara. 

It’s a slightly different approach from the original poster, which shows Elphaba with her face covered by her hat and a smirk complete with bright red lipstick, while Glinda whispers in her ear while wearing an all-white outfit. 

When the poster was released, diehard fans felt it was a ‘downgrade’.

Wulfsimmer said on X: ‘Trailer wasn’t that bad albeit washed out but I hate how downgraded the smirk is in the poster lowkey.’

‘It looks awful. Like a stare at the camera moment from the office. Like a complete mockery of the original smirk / feel of the original poster. Almost like a shot from a cheap early 2000s disney show,’ Firebison said on Reddit.

The backlash didn’t go down well with Cynthia, who took to Instagram with a scathing attack on fans: ‘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”.

‘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.’

She concluded: ‘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 highly anticipated film is set to land in UK theatres on November 22 almost 10 years after the film adaption was first announced in 2016. 

Ariana stars as Glinda the Good, while Cynthia, who is just an Oscar away from becoming an EGOT winner, has taken on the role of Elphaba. 

Wicked will land in UK cinemas on November 22.

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