35,000 Sign Petition to Keep James Corden Out of Wicked Movie

The Broadway Gays do not want James Corden coming anywhere near the Wicked film.

Over 35,000 people have signed a new Change.org petition begging Universal Studios to "Keep James Corden out of Wicked the movie."

The Hollywood Reporter first brought attention to the petition after it was gaining traction on social media yesterday. The petition, which currently already has over 35,000 signees of a 50,000 signature goal, simply states "James Corden in no way shape or form should be in or near the production of Wicked the movie. That's pretty much it."

Corden's performances in recent musicals have been some of the worst-reviewed of any actor in the 21st century. In Cats, he ruined a song celebrating how much everyone loves fat cats by making fat jokes and looking into the camera as he said the word "cats." Then, queer critics thought his lisp and limp wrist in The Prom (for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe) was homophobic and relied on archaic gay stereotypes.

Then there was Cinderella. Not only is his mouse-to-human transformation one of the most terrifying things ever put to screen, but he made things much, much, much worse by co-producing and starring in a viral clip where he dressed as a rat and thrust his groin at random drivers stuck in LA traffic to promote the movie.

At the end of last week, we learned that Cynthia Erivo will be starring as Elphaba alongside Ariana Grande as Glinda. While Erivo is an inspired choice and we stan pop queen Ari, we can't help but mourn the loss of a Glinda played by Dove Cameron. Not only is she one of the best blonde singers and stage actors today, but Cameron has also publicly said that all her characters are queer like her, and she would've added some much-needed gay energy to the musical.

Wicked is being directed by In the Heights and Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu and will begin production in the UK in 2022. Hopefully, Corden will be nowhere near the set.

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