Our readers are Twitter users
You can now follow the latest news for free through our Twitter account
Click here to subscribe
Paris: On Wednesday morning, the wax statue dedicated to the American star Dwayne Johnson, nicknamed “The Rock,” will be reinstalled at the Grevin Museum in Paris, following modifications made within 24 hours to make it more realistic, after the actor complained about the “skin color” of the first version, according to What the museum’s general director announced to Agence France-Presse.
“We removed his statue on Monday evening. Our craftsmen darkened the color of his skin during the night and throughout the day,” Yves Delomo said, adding, “We received a promise from Dwayne Johnson (…) to stop by the museum during his next visit to Paris (…) We can make any corrections.” Additional may be desired.
“We worked for more than a year on the character (of the statue) of Dwayne Johnson, in particular reproducing his very complex tattoo. We used photos because Dwayne could not travel to Paris to put the finishing touches on his statue,” Dellomo explained.
The statue shows the actor wearing a short-sleeved polo shirt and dark blue pants, while he is next to other stars in the museum, most notably Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney and Meryl Streep.
The decision was made to dedicate a statue to him in the famous French Wax Museum through the “Griffin Awards”, which are awarded according to a vote from Internet users nominating their favorite celebrities.
The actor, who is of African-American descent and from the Samoan Islands, joined on Sunday the list of figures who were subjected to waves of ridicule because of wax statues made in their likeness, following the unveiling in the middle of this month of a statue like him in the Grevin Museum of Wax Statues in the French capital, showing him with light skin.
The American actor wrote on his account, which has 391 million followers on Instagram, “Please know that I will ask my team to contact our friends at the Grevin Museum in Paris, France, so that we can work on “updating” my wax statue while adding important details and improvements, starting with skin color.” “.
American comedian James Andre Jefferson Jr. mocked, in a video clip re-shared by Dwayne Johnson, saying, “You’re making ‘The Rock’ look like David Beckham. It looks like ‘The Rock’ is about to become part of the royal family. I’m a little insulted.”
The Grevan Museum, which receives 800,000 visitors annually and includes more than 250 statues of celebrities, sparked controversy in 2018 by presenting a statue, which was not successful by the museum’s own admission, in the likeness of French President Emmanuel Macron.
It takes six months to make any of these wax statues, and costs between 50,000 and 60,000 euros.
