The production company behind the film adaptation of Wicked has slammed rumours about a supposed pay discrepancy between its two leads.
For the past week, rumours have been circulating on social media suggesting that Ariana Grande was paid as much as fifteen times more than co-star Cynthia Erivo for their performances in Wicked, despite the latter being the lead in the film.
The New York Post was among the outlets to pick up on these rumours, pointing out that Cynthia was rumoured to have made $1 million (£790,000) for the film, while Ariana was allegedly paid $15 million (around £11.9 million).
However, a spokesperson for Universal has insisted to Variety that this is not the case, branding the “reports of pay disparity” between Cynthia and Ariana “completely false and based on internet fodder”.
Although they stopped short and specifying exactly how much they each earned, Universal added that both stars were paid the same for their work in Wicked.
Earlier this week, Cynthia spoke out about a very different disparity between herself and Ariana – this time in terms of press coverage.
Last week, the British press was accused of “erasing” Cynthia when several UK newspapers published pictures of Ariana on her own on their front pages the morning after Wicked’s London premiere.
Cynthia admitted to Cocoa Girl magazine that she’d “not necessarily paid attention to the covers of newspapers in the UK”, but that it “doesn’t necessarily surprise me” to hear she’d not been included in the front page coverage.
“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 said.
Wicked is in cinemas now. Read our review of the movie here.