Following concerns over Dwayne Johnson’s skin tone, the French Museum will alter the wax statue

A much-maligned waxwork of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is being quickly fixed, according to a French museum, after the American star raised concerns about its light skin tone. Johnson, who is Black and of Samoan descent, made fun of the Grevin Museum’s inaccurate wax replica of him on Instagram this past weekend. The wax figure looked to show Johnson with white skin and only vaguely resembles his features.

Post on Instagram by The Rock

“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, who went by the stage moniker The The Rock.

The museum’s statement

The museum informed AFP on Monday that workers were “reworking” the wax figure and that a newer one will be placed on Tuesday morning. The museum’s director, Yves Delhommeau, said in a statement that “they’re going to work all night on it so that it’s more in line with fans’ expectations.”

Crews “will labor all night to make sure the likeness is more in line with his fans’ expectations.

“We’re also going to reconfigure the lighting because there was a lighting issue that was having the effect of lightening his skin.”

Johnson, meantime, “will come see us later on to see if there are other modifications that need to be made.”

Details about the wax replica of Dwayne Johnson

Johnson’s statue was debuted last week on social media by the Grevin Museum, which receives close to 800,000 visitors annually. However, a picture used to advertise the new monument sparked a backlash from Johnson’s followers that ranged from amusement to rage.

Someone said that the person resembled a “Eastern European plumber.” Another person said, “Why would you white wax (wash) him?” Johnson reacted when comedian James Andre Jefferson Jr. mocked the monument in an internet video.

In the video, Jefferson said that The Rock was being transformed to resemble David Beckham, a former England soccer player, or “part of the Royal family.” I’m somewhat insulted, Jefferson said.

Similar jeers were sent at the museum in 2018 after an unfavorable depiction of French President Emmanuel Macron. Grevin sculptures take six months to create and cost between 60 and 70,000 euros.