"It's so much bigger than us."
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.
"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."
"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."
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.
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