Madame Tussauds Is in Hot Water Over Its Whitewashed Take on Beyoncé

 The New York Times reports that Beyoncé’s wax mannequin has been removed from Madame Tussauds New York. A museum staffer told the publication that it was “off the floor until further notice.” A museum rep refused to specify the reason behind the statue’s removal.

July 21, 2017

Bey onstage during her 2013 “Mrs. Carter Show World Tour”; Image: Larry Busacca/PW/WireImage for Parkwood Entertainment

On July 12, Madame Tussauds New York put up a wax mannequin in Beyoncé’s likeness and announced via its social media channels that faux-Bey would be on display through September. On Tuesday July 18, Twitter user @CCFan007, a Ciara stan who’d recently visited the tourist attraction, shared a photo of Queen Bey’s wax figure on social media, applauding it as “Fierce!”

Then came the Twitter storm. Social media users were quick to point out that the wax sculpture looks nothing like Beyoncé and, adding insult to injury, faux Bey’s skin tone is essentially white.

Some felt that Beyoncé’s figure better resembled Mariah Carey and Lindsey Lohan. Others posted contrasting images of wax Beyoncés from different Madame Tussads to show how poorly the institution was doing as a whole. Allure editor-in-chief Michelle Lee wondered if the sculptors responsible had ever even seen the pop icon.

In a statement given to Page Six, Madame Tussauds came to its wax sculptor’s defense, blaming poor lighting and camera flashes for the alleged whitewashing. “At Madame Tussauds, our talented team of sculptors take every effort to ensure we accurately color match all of our wax figures to the celebrity being depicted. Lighting within the attraction combined with flash photography may distort and misrepresent the color of our wax figures which is something our sculptors are unable to account for at the production stage.”

Like certain makeup artists, the wax sculptors appear to have an easier time working with pale-skinned celebs. See: Kylie Jenner’s new doppelgänger.

I made her FaceTime my whole family .. fooled everyone

A post shared by Kylie (@kyliejenner) on Jul 18, 2017 at 9:04pm PDT

But perhaps it isn’t their fault. Maybe there’s no way to immortalize a demi-God. To quote @beygency:

[ via Cosmpolitan ]