Dancing by lies.
The rumor about Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s “Wicked” paychecks has been cleared up.
It was reported on-line that Grande, 31, was paid $15 million to star as Glinda the Good Witch within the two-part film musical, whereas Erivo, 37, solely received $1 million to play Elphaba, the Depraved Witch of the West.
Nonetheless, Common Photos denied the alleged $14 million-difference pay hole on Tuesday.
“Reports of pay disparity between Cynthia and Ariana are completely false and based on internet fodder,” a spokesperson for the movie studio stated in a press release to The Hollywood Reporter.
“The women received equal pay for their work on ‘Wicked,’” they added.
Common didn’t reveal how a lot the pair had been paid for the movie.
The Submit has reached out to reps for Grande and Erivo for remark.
A number of shops reported that Grande made greater than anybody within the “Wicked” forged — regardless of having much less display screen time than Erivo.
Much more shocking had been claims that supporting forged members earned larger paychecks than Erivo for his or her smaller roles: Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum had been rumored to have been paid $2 million every to play Madame Morrible and the Wizard of Oz, respectively.
“Bridgerton” star Jonathan Bailey, in the meantime, was reported to have been paid $450,000 to play love curiosity Fiyero.
“Wicked” is already a field workplace smash globally. It has grossed over $162 million worldwide in its first 5 days of cinemas.
Within the US, it scored the most important field workplace debut for a musical adaptation in historical past, with $114 million in its opening weekend.
The Jon M. Chu-directed movie had a reported funds of round $150 million.
The sequel, “Wicked Part: Two,” that includes the identical forged lineup, hits theaters on November 21, 2025.
Grande and Ervio had been forged within the lead roles in 2021 after an extended audition course of.
“I felt a little bit of the initial nervousness or the sort of preconceived notions about what I might be able to deliver or not deliver, or why I would be wrong or whatever,” Grande stated about enjoying Glinda on the “Sentimental Men” podcast earlier this month.
The Grammy Award winner added that she understood if followers had been involved about her casting due to her pop star background.
“I probably would’ve said the same thing. I probably would’ve said, ‘Why the fuck? Kill me. I’ve waited 20 years for this. Kill me.’ I would’ve said that — as a fan from the outside knowing of only ‘7 Rings,’ probably — I’d say, ‘Well, that’s bullshit.’ So, you know, I get it,” she stated.
Erivo, in the meantime, advised Selection in a current interview that, as a Black girl, she at all times linked to Elphaba’s story of being an outsider.
“I feel like I’ve been given this incredible gift of a character whose raison d’etre is to show that all of your difference is what makes you special,” Erivo defined. “That you can soar above anyone’s expectations, that you can be everything you’re meant to be, and that the search to finding that can be hard, but when it happens, it can be really freeing, really beautiful.”
Chu, 45, has constantly stood by casting Erivo and Grande within the movie.
“They read with different people, but at the end of the day it very much was obvious that she was Elphaba and she was Glinda,” he not too long ago advised Leisure Weekly.
“I didn’t know that they would work. I didn’t know if they would like each other,” he added. “I had no idea the actual personalities of that, but I knew that they were right for those roles.”
