CNN
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Don’t mess with the ‘evil’ witch.

Cynthia Erivo, who plays Elphaba in the upcoming “Wicked” film adaptation, decried the various memes and fan-made versions of the movie poster, which she said “degrades” and “erases” her involvement.

Earlier this month, fans were inspired to edit the latest poster for the “Wicked” movie, featuring Ariana Grande as Glinda whispering as Erivo looks ahead, to more closely resemble the musical’s original logo. In that illustration, Glinda holds her hand to speak into Elphaba’s ear as the green witch grins, her eyes covered by her pointy black hat.

Many fans thought it was an improvement over the official movie poster, in which Erivo’s face is fully visible. In an Instagram story on Wednesday, Erivo said it was the “wildest, most offensive thing I have ever seen.”

“Our poster is a tribute and not an imitation. Editing my face and hiding my eyes is erasing me,” she said. “And that is just very painful.”

In the same story, Erivo called out other “bad” memes circulating online, including one that made a crude joke about Elphaba’s anatomy and an AI-generated video of the two actresses fighting.

“None of this is funny. None of this is cute,” Erivo wrote. “It degrades me. It degrades us.”

Erivo, Grande and “Wicked” film director Jon M. Chu all reshared the official poster to their Instagram stories on Wednesday. In his story, Chu wrote that Erivo is “(his) superhero.”

The lead-up to the highly anticipated premiere of ‘Wicked’ was full of jokes, memes and a wide range of fan reactions. Some have wondered why the film’s trailers seem to gloss over the fact that it is both a musical and just a part An of a planned duology – the first film will include the first act of the musical, culminating in the voice-wrenching anthem “Defying Gravity.”

Part one of ‘Wicked’ will be released in theaters on November 22. The second film is expected in November 2025.