Wicked cast salaries: the truth about Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s pay revealed

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo have been making headlines amid reports about the huge gap between the star’s salaries for the Wicked movie, in which they star as Glinda and Elphaba.

Unsubstantiated rumours suggested that there was a huge gap between the two actresses’ salaries for the film, which is a Broadway adaptation from director Jon M. Chu.

Amid online speculation, here’s what we know about their salaries below. 

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s wicked salaries

Following claims that Ariana made $15 for the film while her co-star Cynthia earned $1 million, a Universal spokesperson clarified that the two leads were paid the same amount.

“Reports of pay disparity between Cynthia and Ariana are completely false and based on internet fodder. The women received equal pay for their work on ‘Wicked’,” a spokesperson said. 

Universal did not disclose the exact dollar figure. 

The salaries of other cast members, including Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey and Bowen Yang, have not been revealed.

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Wicked is an adaptation of the hit 2003 Broadway musical of the same name, which was loosely based on the best-selling 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire. A prequel to The Wizard of Oz, Wicked tells the backstory of the Wicked Witch and the Good Witch and their unlikely friendship. 

The two-hour and 40-minute-long feature has enjoyed massive box office success and debuted in theatres over the weekend to  $112 million in North America and $164 million globally, making it the highest-grossing Broadway adaptation. 

© Universal

The second instalment will premiere on November 21, 2025. 

On what fans can expect from Part Two, director Jon M Chu told HELLO!: “If Part One is about making hard choices, Part Two is about the consequences of those choices. There are no happy endings as we find out in fairytales and it gets more complicated, more nuanced. 

© Universal Pictures

“As they say, there’s no place like home but what is home? What happens to a home when it doesn’t want you? Is it worth defending? Is it worth your time? Those decisions are complicated so we get into the meat of that and we get to see Glinda also have to make hard choices,” continued the Crazy Rich Asians director. “Is she ready to pop her bubble and be the great leader that Oz deserves?”

Part one of Wicked is out in theatres now.