Cynthia Erivo has responded to the controversy that arose when several British media outlets chose to highlight her Wicked co-star Ariana Grande’s appearance at the film’s UK premiere over her.
Last week, Cynthia and Ariana walked the red carpet together at a screening of the film in London.
However, despite the British performer being the lead in the film, and there being several pictures of both performers together at the event, several UK newspapers chose to feature Ariana solo on their front pages the following day.
This was highlighted by Big Brother UK housemate and social commentator Trish Balusa in an X post that has been viewed more than 12 million times, and sparked a conversation about the continued erasure of Black women.
To promote the film, Cynthia sat down for an interview with Isabelle, a child reporter from Cocoa Girl, the UK’s first magazine aimed at Black children.
During the interview, Isabelle told the Tony winner: “I want to address the elephant in the room. We were not happy as a publication to see that you were not on the front of most covers of newspapers in the UK.
“How did this make you feel when you are just as important and just as essential to the film?”
“Thank you for saying that,” Cynthia began, admitting she’d “not necessarily paid attention to the covers of newspapers in the UK”, but that it “doesn’t necessarily surprise me”.
“I am very glad that we get to share this movie with everyone and hopefully, that this goes further and wider than the newspapers,” she continued.
“And [the press is] very helpful – as long as they bring people to the movies, I’m happy.”
Turning to Isabelle, Cynthia added: “I think the important thing is that you feel seen when you see this movie, and other people feel seen when they see it too.
“If you haven’t seen me on newspapers, and we want to see ourselves so if you see it you can believe it, this shows us that we can believe it. Your publication allows us to believe that we belong on the front of magazines and newspapers.”
Cynthia recently spoke to BuzzFeed UK’s Seasoned about the impact that seeing her in the role of Elphaba could have on young Black people watching Wicked.
“The moment it really hit me was the day that me and Karis [Musongole, who plays Elphaba as a child], met for the first time,” she explained. “I was like, ‘oh my goodness, because I’m in this role, Karis is in this role’.
“It meant that this little girl, I think at the time she was eight, got to play Elphaba! This little gorgeous Black girl who is just the smiliest, sweetest, so talented [girl] gets to do this! And it means that this role of a lifetime will lead to other things, and I’m so excited for her.”
Wicked is in cinemas now. Read our review of the film here.