'Wicked' Star Cynthia Erivo 'Deeply Hurt' by Fan-Made Photoshopped Posters

Cynthia Erivo is “deeply hurt” over a fan-made poster of Evil covering her eyes and calling the photoshopped image “the equivalent of people posting the question, 'Is your dick green?'”

Erivo, who stars opposite Ariana Grande in the film adaptation of the book and the Broadway show due out in November, plays Elphaba to Grande's Belinda. The Tony, Emmy and Grammy Award-winning actress posted the fan-created image to her Instagram Stories on Wednesday, writing, “This is the wildest and most offensive thing I've ever seen.” However, the image in question appears being a replica of the movie poster to make it more similar to the Broadway version, which shows Elphaba with her hat over her eyes while Belinda whispers in her ear. Erivo wrote that it made no difference to her as she was still “deeply hurt” by the fan-made poster.

“The original poster is an ILLUSTRATION,” she wrote. “I am a real human being who has chosen to look directly through the camera at you, the viewer, because without words we communicate with our eyes,” she continued, explaining her decision in the film version of the poster, to expose her eyes. “Our poster is a homage, not an imitation. To edit my face and hide my eyes is to erase me.”

But some fans say, “It’s not that deep.”

Others sided with Erivo, agreeing that covering the actress' eyes dehumanized her or that if Grande had posted a similar message, she would have received immediate support.

Others say Erivo was obviously joking about being offended – but that seems unlikely since the Harriet Star followed up her original post with an image of the official movie poster showing her eyes and a message that read, “Let me put this here to remind you and cleanse your palette.” She remained adamant that it was “It's not funny” to hide her eyes to imitate the popular Broadway play.

“It humiliates me” and “It humiliates us,” she wrote.

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