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'Wicked' irony: The Broadway musical hit with a discrimination lawsuit
By
Arun Venugopal
Published Jun 5, 2026
Modified Jun 5, 2026
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By
Arun Venugopal
Published Jun 5, 2026
Modified Jun 5, 2026
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The Broadway musical — you know the one — about a witch who is ostracized and othered because of her green skin is being sued for racial discrimination.
Kevin Lynch, 35, a white male theater professional with roots in Rockland County, alleges in a federal lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Manhattan that he was barred from even applying for a post with the musical "Wicked" because of his “immutable characteristics,” including his race and gender.
The claim was also brought by conservative activist Edward Blum. Blum, who is president of the American Alliance for Equal Rights, has been instrumental in bringing successful challenges to affirmative action policies, including a 2023 Supreme Court ruling that invalidated race-conscious admissions decision-making in higher education.
This isn’t the first time Lynch and Blum have filed a discrimination lawsuit against a theater company.
Last year, they sued nonprofit theater company Playwrights Horizons for offering non-white patrons discounted tickets on “BIPOC Night,” arguing that he had to pay $90 for a ticket while non-white audience members spent $39, according to the complaint. The case was settled out of court in March, Blum said.
"Kevin Lynch is a tireless advocate for race-neutral policies,” Blum told Gothamist. “He and the American Alliance for Equal Rights, and frankly most Americans, don't believe that someone's race should be used to help them or to harm them in their life's endeavors."
Blum said while Lynch has no other lawsuits planned at the moment, “there are a number of other art institutions that have, what we believe, racially discriminatory policies, and those may be challenged in the coming months.”
In the Wicked complaint, the two lean into the irony of targeting a blockbuster of both stage and screen, with its thinly disguised allegories about race and exclusion.
“Broadway is known for breaking rules, suspending reality, and — in the case of the blockbuster musical 'Wicked' — defying gravity,” the complaint states.
“But one thing Broadway can’t defy is the law, including the many laws banning status-based discrimination. It continues, “Sadly, even in the year 2026, major players in the New York theater community remain committed to that illegal project.”
None of the defendants, including the business entity Wicked LLC and two business directories, responded to requests for comment.
The lawsuit targets one of Broadway’s most venerable productions, which has grossed more than $1.8 billion since opening in 2003. Since then, questions about representation and diversity in the arts have taken center stage, particularly in the wake of the 2015 debut of Hamilton, which features a predominantly Black, Latino, and Asian American cast portraying the white Founding Fathers of the United States. It continues to upend conventional notions about which actors can play certain roles.
According to the lawsuit, Lynch applied for a three-week Music Director Experience with "Wicked" in 2023. The paid position, according to the lawsuit, would allow the chosen participant to attend rehearsals and performances, study the musical score, and receive playing and conducting experience with the production’s music director.
The position was only made available, the complaint alleges, to members listed in the employment directory of Maestra, an organization that caters to “female and nonbinary musicians in the New York theater industry,” as well as Musicians United for Social Equity — or MUSE — which the complaint states serves “musicians of color.”
“But both directories ban musicians who are male (Maestra) or white (MUSE),” according to the complaint, which claims violations of federal civil rights laws, the New York State Human Rights Law, and New York City Human Rights Law barring discrimination based on factors including race, color or gender.
The lawsuit states that Lynch tried to create a profile in the Maestra employment directory in 2023. “After reviewing his profile and determining that he was male, Maestra removed it,” the lawsuit alleges.
Similarly, the lawsuit claims that Lynch tried to create a profile on the MUSE employment directory, but never received a confirmation and was never listed. In August 2023, the lawsuit alleges that Maestra and MUSE announced that the winner of the Music Director Experience was a nonbinary person of color who was not identified in the complaint.
Lynch grew up in Rockland County and attended William Paterson University in New Jersey before receiving his master’s in interdisciplinary music studies from Berklee College of Music in Boston, according to his personal website.
He has served as music director for the Mayo Performing Arts Center, Centenary Stage Company, and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. His credits include the short films Equal Opportunity and Hard Feelings.
“I love Broadway musicals and want an equal opportunity for employment within the industry, as the law requires,” Lynch told Gothamist.
Blum said “a number of other organizations” have restrictions similar to the targeted "Wicked" program.
“I'm hopeful that if we win this case and 'Wicked' opens up its employment opportunities to everyone, regardless of their race or ethnicity, that other organizations that have similar programs and policies will follow suit,” Blum said. The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction barring Maestra and MUSE from classifying people by race or sex in their directories.
A spokesperson with the Asian American Performers Action Coalition said inclusion efforts are still necessary in New York theater.
AAPAC issued a “Visibility Report” on industry hiring during the 2021-22 season – notably the first full season after the pandemic and 2020’s Black Lives Matter protests, and near when Lynch applied for the Wicked role. It showed that Black actors, at 40.5%, hit near-parity with the number of white actors hired, at 43.1%, “a significant increase from the last full season before the pandemic, 2018-19, where Black actors made up 29% of all roles cast.”
But the same report found “the vast majority of gatekeepers and creatives are still disproportionately White,” including the categories of Broadway producers, general managers, non-profit artistic leaders and board members. And out of the 21 plays on Broadway during the period, “there were 0 Asian, Latinx, or MENA (Middle East and North Africa) actors in leading roles. Indigenous actors were again completely shut out with no representation on Broadway.”
“What this tells us is that there was a very narrow understanding of diversity on Broadway,” the report said.
Preliminary data in the last three years indicates the hiring of white creatives in these areas has only increased, Pun Bandhu, steering committee member of AAPAC, said in a statement to Gothamist on behalf of the coalition.
“The statistics show that opportunities are not equal,” the statement said. “Programs like the ones that Wicked, Muse and Maestra created are important pathways aimed at creating equal access to employment opportunities. It is our view that eliminating efforts towards inclusion does not create an even playing field.”
This story has been updated to include information about a second discrimination lawsuit Lynch and Blum settled with a theater company earlier this year.
Tagged
Race And Justice Unit
broadway
theater
Arun Venugopal
Arun Venugopal is a senior reporter for the WNYC and Gothamist Race & Justice Unit who focuses on issues of race and bias in our region. His reporting also tackles the topics of immigration, faith, and inequality. Arun serves as the regular fill-in host of the station's "U.S. of Anxiety" program. Arun was the creator and host of Micropolis, a series about race and identity. He is a contributor to NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered. He has appeared on PBS Newshour, On the Media and Studio 360, and has been published in The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal and Salon. He also frequently serves as an emcee and moderator of panel discussions on race, religion, and identity issues and has been a guest host of NPR's "Fresh Air." He lives with his family in Queens.
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