- Dwayne Johnson is a box office superstar
- His wax figure was just unveiled in Paris
- THIS is what some people complained about
It's always a big honor when an institution chooses to immortalize you in wax. But they don't always get it right. The wax figure's skin color has been criticized for appearing to be several shades lighter than the star’s. "You made The Rock look like he David Beckham," Jefferson Jr. said in his video. "It look like The Rock about to be part of the royal family!"
The Musée Grévin, a museum in Paris, France, that specializes in wax figures of famous people, came under fire as some people took to social media to accuse the museum of white washing the figure of the 'Black Adam' star, commenting that the recently unveiled likeness suffered from a "melanin deficiency." "It looks like The Rock hasn't seen the sun a day in his life," Jefferson continued.
Dwayne is a little darker
Johnson, whose late father, the wrestler Rocky Johnson, was of Black Nova Scotian descent and his mother, Ata Maivia, is Samoan, saw the outrage and addressed it Sunday on social media. Johnson posted a video of comedian James Andre Jefferson talking about the wax figure and wrote in the caption, "I knew my boy @jamesjeffersonj had this Rock wax statue in his roasting crosshair."
"Is this how y’all felt when you lost the Little Mermaid?’" he quoted Jefferson as saying, adding a laughing emoji. "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,'” Johnson wrote.
At a time where identity politics matter so much, this story could have several sequels to it. The Grevin Museum, like Madame Tussaud's wax museums in New York City and London, displays wax figures of celebrities. Their figures range from Charlie Chaplin to Nelson Mandela to Leonardo DiCaprio.
Sculptor Stéphane Barret created the wax figure of Johnson using photos and videos instead of seeing the star in person, the museum said in a news release on Monday. "The teams went to gyms in the hope of finding a man who matched The Rock's extraordinary measurements," the news release read.
"It's true that it's always impressive to make people of this size," Barret said in a statement. "We were lucky enough to find someone who physically matched Dwayne Johnson's build and height. That really allowed us to get it right." She also said it was difficult to achieve the subtle smirk Johnson gave in the photo he used to create the figure.
Johnson's eyes were redone three times to ensure they were warm and not too dark, while his Samoan tattoos took 10 days to paint, according to the release. And his identity has always been important to Johnson.
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In 2019, responding to a Twitter user who said The Rock was "billed" as a Samoan wrestler, Johnson said he identifies as both Black and Samoan. "Glad I came across this and I'll give you guys some context & truth. I identify as exactly what I am - both. Equally proud. Black/Samoan," Johnson tweeted, adding "And my friend, let me expand your thoughts a bit here - I transcended race in wrestling so there was no 'booked that way."
Johnson recently caught a lot of flack on social media after asking fans for donations following the Maui wildfires this year, with many commenting that he and his rich Hollywood buddies should help first. That dominated the conversation around the actor, up until this new sculpture was unveiled.
Sources have reached out to the museum for comment, but there has been no response. Let's wait and see if they will make any changes after all!
