--- title: Beyoncé's Whitewashed Wax Figure Sparks Internet Uproar description: A Beyoncé wax figure on display at Madame Tuassauds in New York is causing a stir over its contrasting appearance to the real Queen Bey. canonical: https://time.com/4865402/beyonce-wax-figure-whitewashed-internet-reactions/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-19T21:42:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2024-01-24T11:52:37.000Z og:title: The Internet Is in an Uproar Over This Beyoncé Wax Figure og:description: "Theory: Beyoncé wax figure makers have never seen Beyoncé" og:url: https://time.com/4865402/beyonce-wax-figure-whitewashed-internet-reactions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9fa072be9006c8e/6988d65e8fd2ee7b683580c9/beyonce-wax-figure.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Beyonce-Madame-Tussauds-Istanbul og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Internet Is in an Uproar Over This Beyoncé Wax Figure twitter:description: "Theory: Beyoncé wax figure makers have never seen Beyoncé" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9fa072be9006c8e/6988d65e8fd2ee7b683580c9/beyonce-wax-figure.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Internet Is in an Uproar Over This Photo Showing a Whitewashed Beyoncé Wax Figure > Sponsored content. 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The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Updated: Jan 24, 2024 11:52 AM UTCPublished: Jul 19, 2017 9:42 PM UTC  Waxwork of American singer Beyonce on display at Madame Tussauds wax museum in Istanbul, Turkey on November 22, 2016. Waxwork of American singer Beyonce on display at Madame Tussauds wax museum in Istanbul, Turkey on November 22, 2016.Berk Ozkan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Updated: Jan 24, 2024 11:52 AM UTCPublished: Jul 19, 2017 9:42 PM UTC A [Beyoncé](http://time.com/4858114/beyonce-twins-sir-rumi-photo/) wax figure currently on display at [Madame Tussauds](http://time.com/3935483/celebrities-madame-tussauds/) in New York is causing an online stir over its contrasting appearance to the real-life Queen Bey. After [Twitter user Joe](https://twitter.com/CCFan007/status/887436555786354693) shared an appreciative photo of the statue Tuesday, it quickly began to garner backlash. While the picture in question wasn’t an official photo, it looks similar to [one shared by the museum](https://twitter.com/nycwax/status/885169012040228864?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref%5Furl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nydailynews.com%2Fentertainment%2Fbeyhive-reacts-beyonce-terrible-madame-tussauds-wax-figures-article-1.3338705), and prompted some to call out the figure’s whitewashed look in the shot. “It’s a good thing you’re not talking about \*Beyoncé. cause this white woman is definitely not her,” [wrote](https://twitter.com/pettyblackgirI/status/887464556699582464?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref%5Furl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.harpersbazaar.com%2Fcelebrity%2Flatest%2Fa10329366%2Fbeyonce-wax-figures-twitter-reaction%2F) one disapproving Bey fan in response. Other members of the pop star’s fanbase, the Beyhive, drew attention to the fact that this isn’t the first time a wax museum has missed the mark on creating a likeness of the _Lemonade_ artist. “Theory: Beyoncé wax figure makers have never seen Beyoncé,” posited [user Michelle Lee](https://twitter.com/heymichellelee/status/887462386168475648? ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw&ref%5Furl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usmagazine.com%2Fcelebrity-news%2Fnews%2Fbeyonces-wax-figure-has-the-beyhive-freaking-out-w493196). The museum responded to the criticism in a statement to [Page Six](http://pagesix.com/2017/07/19/lousy-beyonce-wax-figure-sets-off-the-beyhive/) on Wednesday, claiming the photo is misrepresentative of the figure’s actual appearance. --- > “” --- > [](https://twitter.com/CCFan007/status/887436555786354693) See a selection of the reactions to the figure below. > [](https://twitter.com/nickiknowsnada/status/887464643639357446) > [](https://twitter.com/lizabeth%5Fkiefer/status/887467681884114944) > [](https://twitter.com/lucasdell/status/887732377463644160) > [](https://twitter.com/lifeofrickey/status/887523061875875840) > [](https://twitter.com/onIyxngeI/status/887457420448071680) > [](https://twitter.com/%5FWordSmiff%5F/status/887453954153615367) > [](https://twitter.com/hotbeansmorgan/status/887462878772592641) > [](https://twitter.com/xonecole/status/887461462234587136) > [](https://twitter.com/felicianicole86/status/887465921496977409) > [](https://twitter.com/twiqball/status/887460294200569856) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4865402/beyonce-wax-figure-whitewashed-internet-reactions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4865402/beyonce-wax-figure-whitewashed-internet-reactions/"},"headline":"The Internet Is in an Uproar Over This Photo Showing a Whitewashed Beyoncé Wax Figure","datePublished":"2017-07-19T21:42:09.000Z","dateModified":"2024-01-24T11:52:37.000Z","description":"\"Theory: Beyoncé wax figure makers have never seen Beyoncé\"","url":"https://time.com/4865402/beyonce-wax-figure-whitewashed-internet-reactions/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","viral","Beyonce"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9fa072be9006c8e/6988d65e8fd2ee7b683580c9/beyonce-wax-figure.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9fa072be9006c8e/6988d65e8fd2ee7b683580c9/beyonce-wax-figure.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Beyonce-Madame-Tussauds-Istanbul","caption":"Waxwork of American singer Beyonce on display at Madame Tussauds wax museum in Istanbul, Turkey on November 22, 2016.","creditText":"Berk Ozkan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4865402/beyonce-wax-figure-whitewashed-internet-reactions/","name":"The Internet Is in an Uproar Over This Photo Showing a Whitewashed Beyoncé Wax Figure"}}]}] ```