Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo wondered whether singing should be allowed in movie theaters when she attended the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York on Thursday.
While many theaters warned fans not to sing along at any point during Wicked, the Elphaba actress, 39, who was that? paid the same as Ariana Grande for the film, despite rumors to the contrary, encouraged fans to belt out the hit songs.
She said:Good. I’m okay with it. We’ve been singing it ourselves for so long – it’s time for everyone to join in. It’s great.
“This is a dream come true, to be able to share it with my family and friends.
‘People who share their own experiences and feel different. And they were comfortable enough to share that with me. I am very grateful for that.’
Amid viral rumors that Erivo was paid $1 million while Grande, 31, was paid a whopping $15 million, a Universal Pictures spokesperson recently denied that claim.
Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo wondered if singing should be allowed in movie theaters when she attended the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York on Thursday.
While many cinemas warned fans not to sing along at any point during Wicked, the Elphaba actress, 39, who was given the same as Ariana Grande despite rumors to the contrary, encouraged fans to belt out the hit songs.
The rumors about the salaries of each Wicked cast member had gone viral on social media.
“Reports of pay disparity between Cynthia and Ariana are completely false and based on internet fodder,” a Universal spokesperson said in a statement via Variety.
The statement added: ‘The women received equal pay for their work on ‘Wicked.’
However, it is still unclear exactly what salary they both received.
The initial rumor had fans shocked as Erivo, who plays Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, plays more of a lead role, while Grande plays a supporting role as Glinda the Good Witch.
Further unsubstantiated rumors had suggested that Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum, who play Madame Morrible and the Wizard respectively, reportedly earned $2 million each.
As for the rest of the main cast members, the viral 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.
She said, ‘Good. I’m okay with it. We’ve been singing it ourselves for so long – it’s time for everyone to join in. It’s great.’
Amid viral rumors that Erivo was paid $1 million while Grande, 31, was paid as much as $15 million, a Universal Pictures spokesperson recently denied that claim
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.
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 massive 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.