October 24, 2023
The Rock Wants His Wax Figure Updated Because It’s Missing Melanin
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has questions about his wax figure, like we all do. The Grévin Museum in Paris, France unveiled the statue on Oct 16 and has been ridiculed mercilessly ever since. According to People, the action superstar shared a video on Instagram from comedian James Andre Jefferson Jr., which poked fun at the statue’s appearance.
Johnson confirmed in the post that he would be contacting the museum to discuss a number of issues with the wax figure, most notably, its skin color.
Johnson wrote “For the record, I’m going to have my team reach out to our friends at Grévin 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.”
According to Deadline, the museum agreed with Johnson’s sentiments via email, “Dwayne Johnson is right, and we noticed it and will obviously remedy it as quickly as possible and send him new photos once completed.”
The museum added, “We are waiting for him when he will come to Paris and the Grévin Wax Museum to celebrate that with a cup of champagne.”
Yall ever notice that a lot of wax figures of people of color like The Rock and Beyonce are made to look as white as humanly possible? https://t.co/JEzBIJBwcM
— Drew (@HeyImReallyDrew) October 20, 2023
https://twitter.com/NightBloodKilla/status/1715459060898648397?t=xhjPvvLfg15eedPa1rNtwQ&s=19
Lil Wayne also took offense to his wax figure at the Hollywood Wax Museum, though his response was less cordial than the former WWE star. The rap legend sent out a post on Twitter/X reading, “Sorry wax museum but that s*** ain’t me! You tried tho and I appreciate the effort.”
Lil Wayne reacts to wax figure of him:
“Sorry wax museum but dat shit ain’t me! You tried tho and I appreciate the effort.” pic.twitter.com/mrJ2IvK2PE
— Pop Base (@PopBase) October 23, 2023
Wax statues of other highly visible Black people have also been criticized, according to Forbes. In 2010 and 2017, wax figures of Michelle Obama and Beyoncé were widely criticized after their installations at Madame Tussauds, the world-famous wax museum. Similar to complaints about Johnson’s figure, those figures were criticized for inaccurate skin tones and also having hairstyle and smile issues, according to the outlet.
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