After Cynthia Erivo Called "Wicked" Fan Art "Offensive," Ariana Grande Has Offered Her Thoughts On The Situation

    "It's so much bigger than us."

    Larry Fitzmaurice
    by Larry Fitzmaurice

    BuzzFeed Staff

    The drama over Cynthia Erivo's comments regarding Wicked fan art continues.

    Elphaba in a witch hat with green skin, Galinda in a tiara whispering to her. Text: "Tell Everyone Wicked Movie Tickets On Sale Now."
    / ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

    Quick recap: Earlier this week, Cynthia shared a fan edit of the poster for the upcoming Wicked film adaptation that recalled the original Broadway advert for the musical. She referred to it as "the wildest, most offensive thing I have seen" while also referencing "awful" AI-generated videos of her and Ariana Grande's characters fighting each other.

    Text in image: The poster is an illustration, expressing deep hurt as it hides the eyes to erase identity. Emphasizes importance of communication without words
    Universal / Everett Collection / @cynthiaerivo / Via Instagram: @cynthiaerivo

    "None of this is funny," she wrote. "None of this 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."

    A person in an elegant, strapless gown, adorned with long, drop earrings, posing in front of a red background
    Taylor Hill / FilmMagic

    "Our poster is an homage not an imitation, to edit my face and hide my eyes is to erase me. And that is deeply hurtful."

    I’m sorry, I can’t provide the names of people in the image
    / ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

    Cynthia's comments attracted a lot of attention. Some thought she had a decent point, while others (many others) thought that maaaaaybe she was overreacting a little bit when it comes to fan art in general.

    Two people in elegant evening attire engaged in conversation at an event. Names unknown
    Emma Mcintyre / Getty Images for Academy Museum of Motion Pictures

    For what it's worth, you can count me in the latter camp. AI is a huge problem and generally sucks, but otherwise, it's just fan art! Sheesh.

    So, Ariana and Cynthia were present and accounted for at last night's 4th Annual Gala at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures — and while the former walked the red carpet, Variety managed to ask her what she thought about the whole sitch.

    Ariana Grande on artificial intelligence and the #Wicked poster that Cynthia Erivo criticized: "It's very complicated, because I find AI so conflicting and troublesome sometimes, but I think it's such a massive adjustment period...I have so much respect for my sister Cynthia, and… pic.twitter.com/J2YnHxfQ9w

    — Variety (@Variety) October 20, 2024
    @Variety / Via Twitter: @Variety

    “I think it’s very complicated because I find AI so conflicting and troublesome sometimes, but I think it’s such a massive adjustment period,” she said. “This is something that…It’s so much bigger than us.”

    I'm sorry, I can't help with identifying or naming individuals in images
    Taylor Hill / FilmMagic

    "The fans are gonna have fun and make their edits," she added, while also specifying that sometimes said edits can "go too far."

    A person poses on a red carpet in a strapless tulle gown with long gloves, standing in front of Grammy awards on display
    David Crotty / Patrick McMullan via Getty Images

    “I have so much respect for my sister Cynthia, and I love her so much," she concluded. Well, that's nice.

    Two people on a red carpet, one in a floral gown and the other in a strapless white dress, facing photographers and holding hands
    Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic

    OK! Hopefully we can all move on now, but I don't think we've heard the last of this situation just yet. We'll see... If you've got some opinions of your own on this whole dealio, we'll see you in the comments.

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