A good waxwork figure can be uncanny but the latest celebrity reveal from Panoptikum Wax Museum has people asking: ‘Who the hell is that?’
Apparently, the answer is Taylor Swift, but fans of the chart-topper are not convinced.
The waxwork has been branded ‘horrid’ and ‘a mess’ as Swifties roasted the attempt to immortalise the 34-year-old icon.
The German museum unveiled the newest addition during a presentation in Hamberg on August 13, in honour of her Eras Tour success.
Comparisons to Taylor impersonator Ashley Leechin, actress Jennette McCurdy, and even a rather unflattering mention of Nanny McPhee have been flying on X.
‘Taylor’ wears a Lover-era-coded sequin blue body suit, inspired by her iHeart Music 2019 Awards outfit, which is not one of the star’s more beloved red carpet moments.
This is paired with silver knee-high boots (for some reason) as she poses with her hands in a heart shape – an action which is linked to her Fearless era of the tour.
However, even the hands are wrong in this awkward waxwork as the August singer makes the symbol with her entire hands rather than just her index fingers.
‘I’m crying they didn’t even get the hand heart right,’ wrote fan account Taylor Throwbacks on X.
‘Y’all worried about fakelor when the real atrocity here is the inaccurate hand heart im gonna be sick,’ shared Kimani.
Cam replied: ‘I’m actually curious if they found and used a Taylor lookalike person’s picture instead of one of her own- cause that wax figure is sOO BAD.’
‘Is Taylor Swift in the room us?’ joked Tae as Tonio laughed: ‘They did her so wrong LMFAOOO.’
is taylor swift in the room us? pic.twitter.com/QR19Df4dBe
— â áµá´¬á´± â (@hardtingz) August 13, 2024
yâall worried about fakelor when the real atrocity here is the inaccurate hand heart im gonna be sick https://t.co/vxIPbMyVPT
— kimanið¥ (@onthattightrope) August 14, 2024
The Taylor waxwork appears to have been placed in front of a waxwork from the musical Cats, casually reminding Swifties that she was indeed in that universally panned film.
This latest waxwork isn’t the only one housed in the museum that is a little unflattering for the celebrity inspiration.
Adele and Ed Sheeran are also featured at the Hamberg museum, although neither has posed with their haunting wax counterparts.
Panoptikum has a waxwork of the late Queen Elizabeth II too – which is secretly bald underneath her hat.
‘It’s horrid,’ concluded fan account dieforyou, while other fans apologised to the Grammy winner on behalf of the museum.
‘THATS BECKY rip becky,’ wrote Meg Riley, referencing an old Tumblr post which claimed an old picture of Taylor was their friend Becky who ‘snorted marijuana at a party’.
Now a huge meme within the fandom, someone had responded: ‘Pretty sure that’s Taylor Swift’ to which the original poster wrote ‘No it’s Becky’.
The relatively innocuous post was then catapulted into Swiftie halls of fame when the All Too Well singer later wore a top referencing the meme.
9 years ago today, taylor swift wearing the iconic âno itâs beckyâ shirt.
— Taylor Throwbacks (@ThrowbackTaylor) September 24, 2023
september 24, 2014 pic.twitter.com/WxEDoBlRyw
This has now amalgamated with people confusing Ashley Leechin with the hitmaker, due to the lookalike’s dedication to dressing and presenting just like Taylor.
A huge slew of comments simply said ‘That’s Ashley’, given the waxwork’s slightly off appearance.
Ashley, 30, is a rather controversial figure in the Swiftie community given her penchant for pulling stunts like hiring security and going into public spaces pretending to be Taylor.
Taylor has not commented on the new wax figure in her honour and like Adele and Ed before her, we doubt she’ll be visiting any time soon.
Waxworks so bad they sparked controversy
This waxwork is definitely not the worst out there, with plenty of haunting treasures to be found in a now-defunct museum in Great Yarmouth.
However, a recent one of Sinéad O’Connor was removed by a museum in Dublin shortly before the first anniversary of her death aged 56.
O’Connor – who died on July 26, 2023 – was honoured at the National Wax Museum but the waxwork quickly attracted criticism.
In a statement, the director of the museum, who was a ‘long-time close friend’ of the late singer and activist, said in a statement: ‘we acknowledge that the current representation did not meet our high standards or the expectations of Sinéad’s devoted fans.
‘We have listened closely to the reactions and agree that the figure does not fully capture Sinead’s unique presence and essence as we intended.’
Skin colour is also a huge issue for waxworks as earlier this year, a waxwork of Beyoncé in Paris was slammed by fans, with several questioning: ‘Who is that white woman?’
The same museum – the Grevin Wax Museum – was previously criticised for the same issue with their waxwork of Dwayne Johnson.
Fortunately, The Rock took the likeness in good faith and reportedly ‘belly laughed’ before offering to help update it with ‘some important details and improvements – starting with my skin colour’.
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