Following the US actor’s complaint about the waxwork’s pale skin tone, a French museum announced on Monday that it is frantically trying to restore the much-maligned figure of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Johnson, who is Samoan and Black by descent, made light of the Grevin Museum’s poorly rendered wax figure this past weekend on Instagram. The image seems to show him with white skin and very slightly resembles him in terms of looks.
“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,” wrote Johnson, best known by his stage name The Rock.
On Monday, the museum told AFP that staff were “reworking” the wax figure, and that an updated version would be reinstalled Tuesday morning.
“They’re going to work all night on it so that it’s more in line with fans’ expectations,” Yves Delhommeau, the museum’s director, said in a statement.
“Crews will work through the night to ensure the likeness is more in keeping with the expectations of his fans.
“We’re also going to reconfigure the lighting because there was a lighting issue that was having the effect of lightening his skin.”
Johnson “will come see us later on to see if there are other modifications that need to be made.”
Johnson’s likeness was released on social media last week by the Grevin Museum, which welcomes up to 800,000 tourists annually.
However, a picture meant to highlight the new statue caused Johnson’s supporters to express everything from dismay to rage.
One commenter said the figure looked like an “Eastern European plumber.” “Why would you white wax (wash) him?” wrote another.
Comedian James Andre Jefferson Jr. released an online video mocking the statue, prompting Johnson to respond.
Jefferson said in the video that The Rock was being made to look like former England soccer star David Beckham or “part of the Royal family.” “I’m low-key offended,” said Jefferson.
Similar jeers were directed towards the museum in 2018 due to an unfavorable image of French President Emmanuel Macron.
A Grevin sculpture requires 50,000 to 60,000 euros ($60–70,000) to produce and takes six months.
