20th Century Fox apologizes for ‘insensitive’ X-Men poster

Entertainment giant 20th Century Fox has apologized for a poster used to promote the latest X-Men movie which some claimed promoted violence against women.

The image, which was used on billboards, posters and other promotional material for “X-Men: Apocalypse”, shows Jennifer Lawrence’s character Mystique being strangled by the villain in the movie, Apocalypse.

“In our enthusiasm to show the villainy of the character Apocalypse we didn’t immediately recognize the upsetting connotation of this image in print form,” Fox said in a statement released Friday to The Hollywood Reporter. “Once we realized how insensitive it was, we quickly took steps to remove those materials. We apologize for our actions and would never condone violence against women.”

The apology comes in the wake criticism and at least one online petition calling on Fox to remove the advertisement. However, the image in question has been circulating in press packages for the better part of a year in the lead-up to the movie’s theatrical release.

In a Facebook post to The Hollywood Reporter, actress Rose McGowan said the fact no one flagged the ad is “offensive and frankly stupid.”

“There is a major problem when the men and women at 20th Century Fox think casual violence against women is the way to market a film,” McGowan wrote back on May 25.

“Imagine if it were a black man being strangled by a white man, or a gay male being strangled by a hetero? The outcry would be enormous.”

A Toronto woman launched an online petition to try and get the movie studio to remove the ad. Kathi Ziolkowski says while sexualized scenes of violence are nothing new when it comes to super heroes and villians, seeing it as a promotional image isn’t selling the right message.

“In the movie, that character has a lot of power and is a heroine. But if people don’t know that and don’t understand the context of the movie, all they’re going to see when they see that ad is a young woman choked out by a huge guy.”