Viral petition to keep James Corden out of the Wicked movie passes 50,000 signatures

It’s official - the internet has had enough of James Corden being cast in film musicals.

We’ve seen him in a number of movie musicals in recent years including the terrifying box office flop Cats, his offensive performance as a gay Broadway actor in The Prom, and his role in Disney musical Into the Woods.

With the news that there is going to be a film version of Broadway classic Wicked and the recent casting announcements are that Ariana Grande will play Glinda and Cynthia Erivo is set to play Elphaba, people are now putting their foot down by creating a petition on Change.org to prevent Corden from getting casted any role in the adaptation.

The petition titled: “Keep James Corden out of Wicked the movie,” has already amassed over 50,000 signatures since it was created by Mikel Miller three days ago.

Change.org

In the description of the petition, the creator’s explanation as why why he made the petition is pretty straight-forward.

“James Corden in no way shape or form should be in or near the production of Wicked the movie.

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“that’s pretty much it,” he wrote.

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People who signed the petition made their feelings about the late-night talk show host abundantly clear in the comments.

One person wrote: “James Corden is the worst and ruins every movie musical he’s in. I’m literally begging don’t let him anywhere near Wicked.”

“James Corden is unbearable and I’m tired of pretending he’s not,” another person said.

Someone else added: “James Corden is what is keeping us from World Peace. If we banish him, the world will sing in harmony.”

“Please don’t subject me to any more James Corden in musicals,” a fourth person replied.

The petition has also gone viral on Twitter with one person resharing a screenshot from Change.org and writing: “I’ve never signed a petition so quickly in my life.”

Nearly 70,000 people have liked the tweet and over 7,000 have retweeted it too.

People on Twitter also shared their thoughts on the petition, and let’s just say they seemed supportive of the cause.

While others agreed that he should not be cast in Wicked, they also defended the British star, saying the petition was “harsh” and noted his singing and acting abilities.

Corden is an accomplished star of the stage. In 2012 he won the Tony Award for best actor in a play for One Man, Two Guvnors. His film career includes 2019’s Cats and 2020’s The Prom.

Wicked is expected to begin production next year but the release date has not yet been confirmed.

It will be directed by Crazy Rich Asians filmmaker Jon M Chu.

After this petition making rounds online, we wonder what the odds are of Corden landing a role...