Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s rumored salaries on Wicked go viral due to massive pay gap between stars

The rumors about the salaries of each Wicked cast member have gone viral on social media.

The alleged list shocked fans due to the huge pay gap between its main stars, Cynthia Erivo, 37, who plays Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and Ariana Grande, 31, who stars as Glinda the Good Witch.

While the numbers have not been confirmed and it is unclear who shared the list first, many people are commenting on the reports and sharing their thoughts.

In the alleged salary report, the musical film’s leading star Cynthia was reportedly paid $1 million, while supporting actress Ariana earns more than ten times the same amount.

The pop sensation is reportedly being paid $15 million for her role in the musical film adaptation – which broke opening weekend numbers records for all Broadway films.

Meanwhile, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum, who play Madame Morrible and the Wizard respectively, each earn $2 million.

As for the rest of the main cast members, the list claimed that Jonathan Bailey, also known for his role as Prince Fiyero, reportedly earns just under half a million.

His salary is rumored to be $450,000, while Ethan Slater, who plays Boq and met his current girlfriend Grande while working on the film, is reportedly making $350,000.

According to the rumored list, Marissa Bode and Bowen Yang’s salaries are $250,000 each.

In response to the leaked list of rumors, fans are sharing their thoughts and there seems to be a general consensus about the list of rumors.

One specific tweet on

The tweet read: “Ariana gets paid over ten million dollars more than Cynthia, that doesn’t sit right with me…”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” another commenter wrote.

Yet another called the salary gap rumors “diabolical.” Someone else thought it was ‘unfair’.

However, there were those who defended the rumor rift, saying that Ariana was objectively the most famous star, writing: “Actors’ salaries are not based on talent, but on people who come to see the movie because of them.”

In response, an X user tried to clear up the allegations with another rumor report. “So to clear this up, Ariana would have split her 15 million with Cynthia so that Cynthia would get more than her 2 million. [sic] pay,” the X user tweeted.

While the numbers have not been confirmed and it is unclear who first shared the list, many people are commenting on the reports and sharing their thoughts; depicted in film still

In the alleged salary report, the musical film’s leading star, Cynthia, was reportedly paid $1 million, while the supporting actress, Ariana, makes more than ten times the same amount; depicted in film still

Meanwhile, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum, who play Madame Morrible and the Wizard respectively, each earn $2 million; pictured from left to right: Jeff, Jonathan Bailey, Cynthia, Ariana and Michelle in London

As for the rest of the main cast members, the list claimed that Jonathan Bailey, also known for his role as Prince Fiyero, reportedly earns just under half a million; pictured from left to right: Ethan Slater, Jeff, Marissa Bode, Michelle, Cynthia, Ariana, Jonathan and Bronwyn James in LA

Reacting to the rumored leaked list, fans are sharing their surprise. One specific tweet on

“It doesn’t make any sense,” another commenter wrote

Another called salary gap rumors ‘diabolical’

Someone else called it ‘unfair’

However, there were those who defended the rumor gap by saying that Ariana was objectively the most famous star

There was also a slew of Wicked fans who shared the opinion that Grande was already expected to earn more than Erivo as she would bring in more viewers with her huge fanbase.

In response, an X user tried to clear up the allegations with another rumor report

“Additionally, Jon is notorious for rewarding his actors/actresses when a movie does well,” they wrote, referencing director Jon M. Chu. “So maybe they’ll both get extra pay, depending on how big Wicked gets.”

Meanwhile, there were also a slew of Wicked fans who shared the opinion that Grande was already expected to earn more than Erivo as she would bring in more viewers with her huge fanbase.

“Y’all always kill me when I discuss this topic,” another X user tweeted. “Why on earth would they get the same thing??? They don’t bring the same number of people to the theater…’

The salary figure rumors come after it was revealed that Wicked grossed approximately $114 million at the US box office during its first weekend of release – marking the biggest debut for a musical adaptation in history.

In terms of budget, Wicked came in at around $300 million, with each of the two installments having an average budget of $150 million dollars, according to a Variety report.