Museum Accused of “Whitewashing” Dwayne Johnson With New Wax Figure

It’s always an exciting time for a celebrity when they are honored by having their likeness created in the form of a wax figure. Madame Tussauds is one of the most famous wax museums in the world, and it features tons of celebrity wax figures. Other museums are also creating wax figures to draw people in. However, one museum is going viral for its most recent wax figure, but for all the wrong reasons.

The Musée Grévin recently unveiled the newest wax figure in its wax figure collection. It was of Jungle Cruise and Moana star Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. While the sculptors nailed the actor’s signature smirk and his tattoos, there was something noticeably…. off-putting.

Johnson is the son of a Black Nova Scotian and a Samoan mother. However, his wax figure is very light-skinned. Fans were quick to notice the skin color on Johnson’s wax figure and called out the creators for whitewashing the beloved actor.

I mean let’s be honest, if somebody said hey #DwayneJohnson we want to make a wax figurine of you” and when They show it to me it looks like Mr. Clean wearing my clothes? I might feel some kinda way about that 🤷🏾‍♂️

I mean let’s be honest, if somebody said hey #DwayneJohnson we want to make a wax figurine of you” and when They show it to me it looks like Mr. Clean wearing my clothes? I might feel some kinda way about that 🤷🏾‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/NNvUhECk0p

— Nik Carter (@TheNotoriousNIK) October 23, 2023

Fans were not the only ones who noticed that Johnson’s skin color was many shades lighter than it should have been. The actor himself also noticed. Johnson posted an Instagram video of his statue being criticized. He said that he has reached out to the museum to ask them to “update” the look of his wax figure.

I knew my boy @jamesjeffersonj had this Rock wax statue in his roasting crosshairs 😂💣🔥

“is this how y’all felt when you lost the Little Mermaid?”
🤣 legit belly laughed at this ☝🏾

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 🤣✊🏾💪🏾

And next time I’m in Paris, I’ll stop in and have a drink with myself 🥃 😉

 

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A post shared by Dwayne Johnson (@therock)

In an email to Deadline Hollywood, the Paris museum noted that Johnson was right in his criticism, and they were working on fixing the problem.

“Dwayne Johnson is right and we noticed it and will obviously remedy it as quickly as possible and send him new photos once completed.

“We are waiting for him when he will come to Paris and the Grevin Wax Museum to celebrate that with a cup of champagne.”

Johnson’s Upcoming Disney Films

Over the years, Johnson appeared in a number of Disney films and television shows, with his first show being Hannah Montana and his first film, The Game Plan. Recently, Johnson was in two major Disney hits — the 2016 animated film, Moana, and a live-action movie based around an iconic Disney attraction — Jungle Cruise.

Related: Dwayne Johnson Receives Huge Apology From Rival

Back in April 2023, Johnson announced that Disney would be creating a live-action remake of Moana. Johnson also confirmed that he would be returning to the live-action remake to reprise his role as the demigod Maui. Unfortunately, Auli’i Cravalho has confirmed that she will not be back as Moana. We do not have any casting news at this time.

Related: Disney Fans Praise Zendaya’s Casting as the ‘New Moana’

Disney has also confirmed that a Jungle Cruise sequel is in the works. The sequel was announced just weeks after the first movie came out. However, we do not know when the movie is expected to be released or who will be starring in it. However, Johnson and his costar Emily Blunt are both expected to return to their roles as Frank Wolff and Lilo Houghton.

Related: Emily Blunt Apologizes For Fat-Shaming, Calling Waitress “Enormous”

Overcoming Some Backlash

Most recently, Johnson was in Hawaii, trying to help the people of Maui rebuild after the devastating wildfires. He teamed up with Oprah Winfrey to create a charity and asked people to donate. However, the actors faced incredible backlash. They were both called out for asking people for money while being worth combined billions of dollars.

Johnson apologized and realized how bad it looked to ask people to donate money while being worth hundreds of millions of dollars himself. He acknowledged that many people are living paycheck to paycheck and can’t afford the basics.