Cynthia Erivo is at the center of another controversy after offering a “rude” response to an interviewer during the premiere of Wicked, the film adaptation of the famous Broadway musical set to hit theaters November 22.
The British actress, who portrays the misunderstood Elphaba Thropp—later becoming the Wicked Witch of the West—wasn’t too pleased when a reporter surprised her and co-star Ariana Grande with an unexpected question.
“Rate your outfits from one to ten and let me know what you guys are wearing,” the reporter, who goes by Mystery Fashionist, began.
Cynthia Erivo responded to a fashion reporter’s question in a way that many social media users labeled as “rude”
The actresses rated each other’s looks a solid ten. While Cynthia explained that her translucent black dress was from Dior, the pop star revealed that her pink gown, a nod to her character Glinda, was a Louis Vuitton design.
“Y’all look amazing,” the interviewer complimented the artists, before shifting the focus to a new topic, “What is a common misconception about y’all?”
Ariana gasped at the question and immediately turned to her co-star, who replied, “I don’t know what the common misconception is at all. That’s not a fashion question.”
The answer didn’t sit right with many netizens, who criticized the Tony winner for seemingly taking offense at a simple question.
“I understand it wasn’t a fashion question but it’s not like he was asking a rude question,” one user wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
“Why does he only have to ask fashion questions? And actually, Cynthia, it’s possible for there to be a misconception about one’s fashion choices/favourites, etc,” somebody else pointed out. “And he changed gears that fast cause a publicist told him he had 30 seconds total to interview them.”
“The manner of speech is so rude but okay,” a third user penned.
Cynthia and her Wicked co-star, Ariana Grande, were asked to rate each other’s outfits and reveal the designer of their looks
However, others supported the actress’ behavior, accusing the reporter of maliciously trying to start drama with his question. “He was tryna be messy and she clocked him lol,” a fan said.
Mystery Fashionist always asks his interviewees a series of fashion-related questions before asking them to reveal a common misconception about themselves. His Instagram page features interviews with stars like Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, and Paris Hilton.
The viral interview moment follows Cynthia’s subtle jab at the other women who auditioned for the role of Glinda in the upcoming musical film.
When asked about her reaction to Ariana Grande’s casting as the Good Witch of the North, the actress responded, “Thank goodness, because it was not the two ladies that I was auditioning with,” a remark that raised eyebrows on social media.
The interviewer, Mystery Fashionist, then shifted to a different topic, asking the actresses to reveal a common misconception about them
In October, Cynthia originally faced criticism after labeling a fan-made movie poster of Wicked as “degrading.”
“This is the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen, equal to that AI of [me and Ariana] fighting, equal to people posing the question ‘is your ***** skin green,’” the 37-year-old wrote about the image, which replicated a classic poster from the Broadway production.
The original poster depicts Glinda whispering something into Elphaba’s ear, who sports green skin and has her eyes covered by her witch hat. The fan-made version took a photo of Cynthia and edited her skin to appear green.
Mystery Fashionist is known for asking celebrities fashion-related questions and concluding the interview by asking them to reveal a common misconception about themselves
Image credits: ajay_porter
“None of this is funny. None of this is cute. It degrades me. It degrades us,” the Oscar nominee wrote in her Instagram stories on October 16.
“The original poster is an illustration. I am a real 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 is to erase me. And that is just deeply hurtful.”
Cynthia’s concerns came after many fans made AI-generated photos of her and Ariana, manipulating their likeness without their consent.
Responding to this phenomenon, Ariana said, “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.”
“I don’t know what the common misconception is at all. That’s not a fashion question,” Cynthia responded
After Cynthia slammed their work, the fan who allegedly made the poster defended themselves writing, “This is, and always was, an innocent fan edit to pay homage to the original Broadway poster, and there’s nothing wrong with that!”
The actress later expressed regret over her decision to blast the fan’s creation on social media.
“I’m very protective of Elphaba. The fans are passionate, and so am I. It was a very human moment for me, wanting to defend the character,” she explained on October 28 during an interview on the red carpet at the 2024 CFDA Fashion Awards.
Still, Cynthia added that in hindsight, she should’ve “called her friends instead“ of posting her critique of the fan poster on Instagram.
While some found the Wicked star’s response amusing, others considered it disrespectful
