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Ariana Grande has offered her thoughts on the debate over fan edits of the poster for upcoming movie musical Wicked, saying: “It’s very complicated.”
Earlier this week, Grande’s co-star Cynthia Erivo hit out at fans who digitally altered her image in the poster for movie musical Wicked, saying in a lengthy social media post: “It degrades me.”
The official poster for the upcoming film shows Erivo in character as Elphaba looking directly at the camera. Glinda, played by Grande, is whispering in her ear.
The image is very similar to the illustration used to promote the original Broadway musical, although fans were quick to point out certain key differences. In the illustration, Elphaba’s eyes are covered by the brim of her hat and her lips are a bright shade of red, arranged in a smirk.
Many fan accounts posted an edited version of the film poster that more closely resembled the illustration.
When asked about the controversy by Variety, Grande responded: “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.”
Asked if she thinks fans can go “too far”, Grande added: “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.”
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In her initial statement on her Instagram Stories, Erivo had said: “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.
“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.”
Erivo followed up by posting an image of the unaltered film poster, with the caption: “Let me put this right here, to remind you and cleanse your palette.”
Wicked is set to be released in UK and US cinemas on November 22. A second instalment is expected to follow next year, although there has been speculation online that the movie may have been recut into a single film.
