Paris waxwork of American actor remade as first was ‘too white’
A second version of the controversial waxwork is to be unveiled today. The US actor has reposted a video of a comedian complaining: ‘you turned The Rock into a pebble’
The Rock (right) has contacted the Paris wax museum to demand "important details and improvements - starting with my skin colour"
Abaca Press/Alamy Live News / Shutterstock / DFree
A Paris waxwork museum is now working on a second version of a statue of US actor and former wrestler Dwayne Johnson after the first model was accused of being ‘too white’.
Mr Johnson - nicknamed The Rock - took to Instagram yesterday to ask for changes in “important details and improvements - starting with my skin colour”, after a furore erupted when the waxwork was first unveiled. The actor reposted a video by comedian James Andre Jefferson Jr, which criticised the statue.
Mr Jefferson Jr said: “You turned The Rock into a pebble. They done turned The Rock into a vinyl rock, or something like that. It look like The Rock ain’t never seen the sun and day. You made The Rock look like he David Beckham. It look like The Rock about to be part of the Royal family…it don’t look like him no more! [sic].”
Mr Johnson identifies as Black/Samoan - something he confirmed in a tweet in 2019 - and was born to a Black Canadian father from Nova Scotia, and a Samoan mother.
Accusations of ‘whitewashing’ of the wax figure first began on social media, upon release of the first pictures showing the statue on October 16. The museum - known as the Musée Grevin - is considered to be the French version of the Madame Tussauds waxwork group.
Musée Grévin’s press office was unavailable for comment when called by The Connexion.
But in a statement to the AFP, Musée Grévin’s general director, Yves Delhommeau said: “Artists will work all night to make a new wax statue closer to the expectations of fans.
The lighting is also being reevaluated, as it lightens Mr Johnson’s skin colour, Mr Delhommeau added. The museum is also working on a new version of Mr Johnson’s face, according to an Instagram post from the museum.
The new version is to be released today (October 24), said Mr Delhommeau.
It is the first time that Musée Grévin has faced a backlash over race, but not the first time it has received criticism for its waxworks.
Previously, it has been lambasted for statues of President Emmanuel Macron and King Charles III. UK newspaper The Daily Mirror even said that the latter “bears but a passing resemblance to the monarch - and that's if you are being charitable”.
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