Cynthia Erivo slams ‘Wicked’ movie poster: ‘Most offensive thing I’ve ever seen’

Cynthia Erivo reacts to the edited version of the ‘Wicked’ movie poster, which she calls “the most brutal, most offensive thing I’ve ever seen.”

The Tony Award-winning actress shared the edited version of the poster on her Instagram Story on Wednesday, a version of the upcoming film’s poster that closely resembles the famous poster for the Broadway show.

Notably, the poster for the Broadway show hides the face of Elphaba, the green-skinned character played by Erivo in the film adaptation. The official poster for the upcoming film directed by Jon M. Chu shows Erivo looking directly into the camera, his face unobscured.

“This is the most brutal, most offensive thing I’ve ever seen, equal to the atrocity we’re fighting, equal to people asking ‘Are you green?’” Erivo, 37, wrote alongside the edited photo. “None of this is funny. None of it is nice. It degrades me. “It degrades us.”

“The original poster is an illustration,” Erivo explained, referring to the poster for the Broadway show. “I am a real human being who chooses to look directly down the camera barrel at you, the viewer… because without words we communicate with our eyes.”

Erivo concluded her post by defending the film’s official poster, saying: “Our poster is a tribute, not an imitation. Editing my face and hiding my eyes means erasing me. This is very painful.”

In another Instagram post, the Grammy-winning singer shared the film’s official poster and wrote: “Let me put this here to remind you and clean your palette 💚💚.”

In what appears to be an act of solidarity, Ariana Grande, who plays Glinda opposite Erivo in the film, shared the official poster for the film on her Instagram Story after Erivo’s posts went viral. Cho also posted the official poster for the film which Erivo shared on his Instagram story, calling the actress “my superhero.”

“Wicked” hits theaters on November 22.