The wax figure of Dwayne Johnson, which was recently unveiled by the Musée Grévin in Paris, France, is about to go through some quick changes. This decision was made following a week of online troll abuse and an explicit plea from the Walking Tall actor.
The wax figure of the former WWE champion showed him holding his arm outstretched while dressed in a blue polo shirt. However, the museum has recently faced criticism for Johnson’s statue, which many people felt was too fair-skinned to faithfully represent the actor. For the unversed, the actor is half-back and half-Samoan.
The Rock has also shown himself to be a good sport by making fun of himself and re-posting a video online in which his wax figure was mocked by comedian James Andre Jefferson Jr. The latter argued that Johnson’s skin tone was misrepresented by the artist.
Dwayne Johnson Responds To Criticism Leveled At His Recently Unveiled Wax Figure
Dwayne Johnson shared the confusion of his admirers when they saw a recent wax replica of him on display in a museum in Paris. He acknowledged his lighter-than-realistic skin tone in an Instagram post and said he would ask Musée Grévin to update his wax figure. The actor, 51, posted a James Andre Jefferson Jr. video in which the latter claimed the actor resembled David Beckham more than the statue.
Jefferson Jr. even accused the museum of “turning The Rock into a pebble.” Check out the video below:
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As per CBR, fans of the actor had accused the museum of “whitewashing” his appearance on social media. While his mother, Ata Johnson, is Samoan, Johnson’s late father, the wrestler Rocky Johnson, was of Black Nova Scotian ancestry. The actor captioned the video:
“Knew my boy James Andre Jefferson Jr. had this Rock wax statue in his roasting crosshairs. For the record, 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. And next time I’m in Paris, I’ll stop in and have a drink with myself.”
Museum Reacts To Concerns Over The Rock’s Skin Color
Pictures of the statue at the Musée Grévin in France have gone viral, clearly demonstrating how much paler it is than the person it was modeled after. As a result of Dwayne Johnson’s response, the museum itself is now promising that everything will be made right.
The skin tone of the figure, in particular, is extremely pale and far from matching the half-black, half-Samoan actor. In a statement to Deadline, the museum has now reacted, admitting that there is a problem and that it will be resolved as soon as possible:
“Dwayne Johnson is right and we noticed it and will obviously remedy it as quickly as possible and send him new photos once completed. We are waiting for him when he will come to Paris and the Grevin Wax Museum to celebrate that with a cup of champagne.”
Moreover, the museum officially agreed with the criticism in a statement to TODAY, adding:
“We noticed it and will obviously remedy it as quickly as possible and send him new photos once completed. We are waiting for him when he will come to Paris and the Grevin Wax Museum to celebrate that with a cup of champagne.”
On the work front, Johnson is getting ready to release his Amazon/MGM Christmas movie Red One later this year. He co-stars with Chris Evans in the holiday action tentpole. The upcoming Jake Kasdan film also featured supporting performances from Kiernan Shipka, Lucy Liu, J. K. Simmons, Nick Kroll, and Kristofer Hivju.
