Dublin, Ireland’s National Wax Museum quickly removed its new figure honoring the late Sinead O’Connor following a backlash — including from the singer’s family — over the waxwork’s “hideous” appearance.
The wax museum unveiled the O’Connor figure on Thursday and, soon after, was met by swift criticism over the work, which more resembled an android impersonating a human than the “Nothing Compares 2 U” singer. (The uproar became so loud that the National Wax Museum had to lock the comments on the social media posts that revealed the figure.)
Sinead’s own brother, John O’Connor, likened the figure to the British sci-fi puppetry series Thunderbirds. “It just looked nothing like her. I thought it was hideous,” John told RTÉ Radio’s Liveline (via the Guardian), noting that he’s seen more realistic mannequins in department store windows.
Following the negative publicity around the O’Connor figure, Paddy Dunning, the director of the wax museum who told the radio show that he was a friend of Sinead’s, said Friday that the figure would be removed and altered to give it a “more accurate representation” of the singer.
Dunning also threw the figure’s sculptor, PJ Joseph Hegarty, under the bus, noting how the artist had recently retired and that the O’Connor tribute would be his “final contribution to The National Wax Museum.”
When the “masterpiece” was initially revealed, the museum said on social media that the O’Connor figure honored Hegarty’s “incredible career and the legacy he leaves behind in every meticulously crafted figure.” However, on Friday, Dunning admitted that when he first saw the Sinead statue, “I didn’t get that feeling that I normally get from PJ’s fantastic work.”
“My heart sunk a bit. We went ahead with the launch, and I didn’t sleep last night,” Dunning continued. “I had to take the decision to cancel the statue, and we’ll go again, and we’ll remodel, and we have to do better on this occasion.”