The promotion for the Wicked movie has been fierce, with its stars championing the 2024 movie release. However, one piece of marketing was recently involved in a controversy. After cast members Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande recreated the famous Broadway poster for the new film, some fans took liberties with the material. Erivo took offense to one of the A.I.-created posters, which showed Elphaba’s hat dipping further down her brow and sporting a stoic look alongside Grande’s Glinda. Now, Grande is responding to her co-star’s comments.
The Grammy winner recently attended the annual Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles, where Variety asked her to comment on the A.I. poster that received backlash from her co-star. Ariana Grande didn’t speak to whether or not she found the fan-made poster offensive herself but instead focused on the adjustment to artificial intelligence and why the technology sparks such strong reactions:
It’s very complicated, because I find A.I. so conflicting and troublesome sometimes. But I think it’s just kind of such a massive adjustment period, and this is something that is such a – it’s so much bigger than us. And the fans are gonna have fun and make their edits, but of course…
Fans have famously been making art and altering images for their own amusement long before A.I. became popular. However, given the immense realism of the technology, it really seemed to strike a nerve with Cythia Erivo. Via her statement, which was posted on Instagram, she conveyed that the hat dip — which was done to more closely resemble the Broadway poster — erased her features and seemed to pit her character against her co-star’s.
While sharing her response to the conflict, Ariana Grande sought to show empathy for her co-star’s feelings. She also reiterated the conflicting nature of A.I.:
I have so much respect for my sister, Cynthia, and I love her so much, and you know, it’s just a big adjustment period. It’s like so much stimulation about something that’s so much bigger than us, so yeah.
Given that the Don’t Look Up alum didn’t share her exact feelings on the edits themselves, it can’t be said whether or not she was truly offended by the poster. What can be said is that the Victorious alum has been in the spotlight since she was a teenager and has simultaneously juggled media frenzy, gossip and Internet slander throughout the entirety of her career. More recently, she did respond to backlash over changing the tone of her voice for her portrayal of Glinda.
Despite the objections from the Wicked co-lead, fans may continue making edits and renders of the promotional material. As Ariana Grande pointed out, the game has been changed, since A.I. was introduced into the mix. With that, many are still trying to understand what the technology is capable of. Voice actors have already taken legal action against the common misappropriation of their voices via A.I. It’s hard to say just how long the “adjustment period” will take, but some may agree with Grande in that it could take a while.
You can see both Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in the first part of Wicked, which hits theaters on November 22.