A Wicked movie fan, who claimed to be the creator of the controversial poster edit that triggered responses from Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, has finally spoken out after facing massive backlash.
The artist said they had created a reimagined version of the movie’s official poster as a homage to the original Broadway artwork.
“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,” the fan said on X.
A fan-edited poster of Wicked went viral, triggering backlash from Cynthia Erivo, who called it the “most offensive thing”
“This is, and always was, an innocent fan edit to pay homage to the original Broadway poster, and there’s nothing wrong with that!” they added.
The fan’s edited poster went viral and caught the attention of Cynthia, 37, who slammed the fan edit as the “most offensive thing I have seen.”
The backlash led to the fan initially deleting the poster. However, they recently said they were posting it back to their social media and never meant any harm.
“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,” they said. “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 self-identified creator claimed the edited poster was a tribute to the original Broadway artwork
The photoshopper, who asserted that there was no AI used to edit the poster, believes Cynthia’s feelings are “valid.”
“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,” the artist said.
While replying back to people’s comments on X, the fan also said they initially deleted their poster out of respect to Cynthia’s feelings but eventually realised the backlash was an “overreaction.”
“I saw her post, felt bad so I deleted it within 10 mins of seeing it, after I processed everything that’s been happening I realised there’s nothing wrong with the poster so I reposted it – that’s it,” the fan said.
The controversy began after Cynthia slammed the fan-made poster, saying: “The original poster is an ILLUSTRATION. I am a real life human being”
The controversy began earlier this month, when Universal released the original poster for the upcoming Wicked film, featuring Cynthia as Elphaba and Ariana as Glinda.
Fans immediately noticed the resemblance to the original Broadway artwork, but with some noticeable differences.
In the movie version, Cynthia’s Elphaba faces the camera while Grande’s Glinda whispers in her ear, a clear tribute to the Broadway artwork. However, the original poster for the musical had Elphaba’s witch hat lowered to cover her eyes.
The person behind the controversial design said they decided to re-share the image, calling it an “innocent fan edit”
Later, the self-identified creator of the fan-edited poster not only added some creative tweaks but also covered Elphaba’s eyes with her hat, gave her bright red lips, and made her smirk, much like the musical’s artwork.
After the fan edit caught Cynthia’s attention, the actress slammed the poster and compared it to another AI-edited video of her and co-star Ariana having a fist fight with each other.
“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,’” the enraged actress said in an Instagram Story.
“None of this is funny. None of it is cute. It degrades me. It degrades us,” she added.
“I have so much respect for my sister, Cynthia, and I love her so much,” Ariana Grande said as she addressed the controversy
@varietymagazine Ariana Grande on artificial intelligence and the #Wicked ♬ original sound – Variety
Image credits: Christophe Petit Tesson/PA Images
She then went on to mention how the original Broadway artwork was an illustration while she is very much real.
“The original poster is an ILLUSTRATION. 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,” she continued.
“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,” she concluded.
Before the fan claimed ownership of the poster and said no AI was used, Ariana had acknowledged the fan-made poster and said AI was “troublesome.”
The much-awaited movie, Wicked, is slated to release on November 22, 2024
“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,” she added about the effects of AI.
When the Variety reporter suggested that sometimes “things can go too far,” the Side to Side singer 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.”
Social media users had mixed reactions to the fan resharing the edited poster on social media
