A photograph of a wax “Beyoncé” is circulating social media after Twitter user @CCFan007 posted Madame Tussauds New York’s most recent depiction of the singer. Past interpretations by the franchise have been much darker—Times Square specifically did have a tanner Beyoncé (circa “Crazy in Love”) that I can personally attest to— yet none have truly been on point with the singer’s physical features. But the latest one is spurring a much bigger wave of criticism and the wax museum franchise just released a statement amidst the negativity.
Sculptors showcase these wax figures at museums all over world. It’s usually the luck of the draw to get a figure having facial attributes identical to the actual human. Many have slight recognizable differences but do come close to the original person as possible for a wax sculpture. Nonetheless, if you are one of the celebrities and public figures chosen to be portrayed, it is still seen as an honor by fans—so much that there are often petitions and campaigns run by them for their favorite stars. Besides a well-known likeness, the criteria for a figure is unclear. There are politicians, viral sensations, reality stars, royalty, athletes, models, and entertainers of varying career levels and decades. One of the them is Beyoncé, who by the way with 22 Grammy Awards has the second highest of all female artists and a number of other accolades that make her widely known. Though social media did not think Madame Tussauds’ latest depiction put respek on her name or race. The current wax figure’s inaccuracy and seemingly light skin tone have caused comparisons to white celebrities.
With accusations of whitewashing Beyoncé, Madame Tussauds New York spoke to SPIN. “At Madame Tussauds, our talented team of sculptors take every effort to ensure we accurately colour match all of our wax figures to the celebrity being depicted,” a representative said. “Lighting within the attraction combined with flash photography may distort and misrepresent the colour of our wax figures which is something our sculptors are unable to account for at the production stage.”
Take a look at figure yourself. How did Madame Tussauds do?
https://twitter.com/nycwax/status/885169012040228864
https://twitter.com/BlairImani/status/887457178596016128
Beyonce's wax figure at @MadameTussauds looks like Kate Gosselin from 'Kate Plus 8' wearing a purple ensemble. Um, can we get a re-do? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/GmW7ysBWsE
— Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila) July 19, 2017
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