Ariana Grande has addressed the recent controversy surrounding a Wicked poster featuring her and Cynthia Erivo ahead of the film’s November 22 release.
Earlier this month, fans were divided over the new poster for Jon M. Chu's adaptation, which gave a modern twist to an iconic image from the 2003 Broadway musical.
Some fans even created their own versions of the poster, which Erivo criticised as "degrading," explaining that it undermined her intent to make direct eye contact with the audience.
While Grande had remained quiet on the issue, she has now spoken out, calling the situation “complicated,” particularly as it touches on concerns about Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Speaking with Variety at the Academy Museum Gala, she weighed in on the backlash: “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.
“This is something that is so much bigger than us, and the fans are gonna have fun and make their edits.”
When asked if she thinks fans can go “too far”, Grande 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 new Wicked poster features Erivo, 37, wearing a black hat, her long dark hair draped over her shoulder, and green lipstick to match her green skin, while Grande, 32, whispers in her ear, wearing a tiara.
This is a departure from the original Broadway and West End production, where Elphaba’s face is partially hidden by her hat, sporting a red-lipped smirk, while Glinda, dressed in all white, whispers in her ear.
Fans of the musical then took to social media to share their edited versions of the film’s poster after its release, adjusting Elphaba’s hat and adding bold red lipstick to make it resemble the original Broadway artwork.
However the fan edit didn’t go down well with Erivo 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.”
Erivo also spoke out against a viral AI-generated video that depicted the poster transforming into a battle between the two stars. Additionally, she condemned the long-standing "is your p—- green?" memes that have circulated in connection with the musical.
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.
