The Grévin Museum in Paris denied claims that the figure was white-washed following backlash and a request for correction from The Rock himself
Dwayne Johnson‘s melanin has been returned to his wax figure at the Grévin Museum in Paris. After a weekend of being criticized for white-washing the original statue of the actor, who requested the change, the location reinstalled the new figure that more closely resembles his true skin tone.
In response to white-washing claims, Veronique Berecz, who helms PR for the the museum, explained via Variety: “This has nothing to do with it — we just made an honest mistake based on the photos we looked at. After we saw all these reactions on different blogs and social networks, we changed it immediately.”
Berecz said that the artists did not get to meet Johnson in person to perfect the figure, so they relied on photographs. “But as it turns out, pictures can be very tricky because the nuances of skin tones can differ depending on the lighting on photos,” she shared. “Every time, the sculptor has to determine the exact face and body shapes, the volumes and it’s always a very complicated challenge if we haven’t met the person.”
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She also described the actor’s reaction as being “rather friendly when addressing the fact that his figure was indeed whiter than it should have been.” Johnson is of Black Nova Scotian and Samoan background.
Earlier this week, Johnson reacted to the original sculpture, which went viral shortly before a similarly inaccurate figure of Lil Wayne did. “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,” the Rock wrote on Instagram on Monday. “And next time I’m in Paris, I’ll stop in and have a drink with myself.”
