Ariana Grande speaks out about fan-edited 'Wicked' posters and AI memes

Ariana Grande is speaking out about the recent spate of fan-edited 'Wicked' posters and AI content from her 'Wicked' co-star Cynthia Erivo.

A poster released by Universal was altered by a fan to mimic the original Broadway poster by lowering Elphaba's witch hat to cover Erivo's eyes. In addition to the poster, Erivo conjured up an AI-generated animation that showed the poster transforming into a fight between the two stars as their “evil” characters.

“I think it's very complicated because I find AI so contradictory and problematic at times, but I think it's just such a huge adjustment period,” Grande told me exclusively at the Academy Museum Gala on Saturday in Los Angeles. “This is something much bigger than us and the fans are going to have fun and make their changes.”

When I suggested that things might sometimes “go too far,” Grande said, “I think so. And I have so much respect for my sister Cynthia and I love her so much. It's just a big adjustment period. It’s so much inspiration for something that’s so much bigger than us.”

Erivo blasted the fan-edited poster and AI-generated video in an Instagram Story on Wednesday. She also criticized the “Is your p–green?” memes that have long been circulating around the musical. “This is the wildest, most offensive thing I've ever seen, equivalent to this horrible AI of ours fighting, equivalent to people asking the question, 'Is your p–green?'” Erivo wrote while chatting shared one of the photoshopped “Wicked” posters with his face covered. “None of this is funny. None of it is sweet. It humiliates me. It demeans us.”

Universal and director Jon M. Chu have adapted the Broadway musical “Wicked” into a two-part film, with the first film hitting theaters in November. The musical is set at Shiz University in Oz, where Elphaba and Glinda become roommates and unlikely friends. In addition to Erivo and Grande, the film's supporting cast also includes Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum and Bowen Yang.

I also asked Grande if she and Erivo might record original music together in the future. “I love being in the studio with her, like a fly on the wall, hearing what she's working on and having her there when I'm working,” she said. “I think we will be stuck together professionally and personally for the rest of our lives. So I would say absolutely.”