Paris Wax Museum Updates Dwayne Johnson Figure After Skin Tone Controversy
The post Paris Wax Museum Updates Dwayne Johnson Figure After Skin Tone Controversy appeared first on Consequence.
The Grevin Museum in Paris has updated their brand-new wax figure of Dwayne Johnson, after the actor took to social media recently to graciously point out that his lookalike looked, well, white.
“[This is] a wax figure of The Rock,” comedian James Andre Jefferson Jr. said in an Instagram reel reposted by Johnson over the weekend. “You know, Black-ass Samoan The Rock? That’s how Paris thinks he looks. They turned The Rock into a pebble! They done turned The Rock into an albino rock… How are you gonna take all the n**** out of Dwayne Johnson?!”
Sadly, it’s not unusual for celebrities of color to get the short end of the stick when it comes to their wax figure reproductions; just ask Beyoncé and Rihanna. But Johnson took it with a good sense of humor, writing that he “belly laughed” at Jefferson’s roast of the sculpture. “I’m going to have my team reach out to our friends at Grevin Museum, in Paris France so we can work at ‘updating’ my wax figure here with some important details and improvements- starting with my skin color,” he added in the caption, complete with some emojis in a more appropriate shade of brown. “And next time I’m in Paris, I’ll stop in and have a drink with myself.”
The comment section of the post bred its own smorgasbord of hilarious responses: “Looks like Mr. Clean cosplaying as The Rock,” one user said, while another inquired with palpable concern: “Why they took your melanin???” Thankfully, the Grevin Museum quickly fulfilled their promise that they’d “remedy” their whitewashed Rock.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t get to meet Dwayne Johnson so we used several photos — but as it turns out, pictures can be very tricky because the nuances of skin tones can differ depending on the lighting on photos,” the museum’s head of PR, Veronique Berecz, told Variety. “Every time, the sculptor has to determine the exact face and body shapes, the volumes and it’s always a very complicated challenge if we haven’t met the person.”
Berecz insisted that Wax Rock’s botched skin tone was an “honest mistake based on the photos.” She also added that Johnson was an especially tricky person to rebuild in wax without having the real guy present — understandably, models of his stature are few and far between (unless you’re at a bodybuilding club). Within 24 hours of Johnson’s social media post, artists had meticulously gone back in with oil pant to give his wax replica a slightly deeper glow.
See Jefferson’s very funny video critiquing The Rock’s wax figure below.
Earlier this year, Johnson and Oprah Winfrey announced the launch of the People’s Fund of Maui in response to the devastating wildfires in the Hawaiian city, putting forth an initial $10 million towards the fund.
Dwayne Johnson’s wax figure has been updated at the Grévin museum in Paris following backlash. pic.twitter.com/pl17qaRY8J
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) October 25, 2023
Editor’s note: This article was updated on October 25th to mention that the Grevin Museum had updated Dwayne Johnson’s wax figure.
Paris Wax Museum Updates Dwayne Johnson Figure After Skin Tone Controversy
Abby Jones
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