Fox has apologised for promoting X-Men: Apocalypse with a poster that shows the film’s male villain restraining Jennifer Lawrence by placing her in a chokehold.
The poster Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique looking on helplessly as she is strangled by Oscar Isaac’s Apocalypse, alongside the tagline: “Only the strong will survive.”
The poster has been widely criticised for appearing to condone violence against women when it is removed from the context of the film.
Exec #1: This is a great poster!
Exec #2: I agree! It's not problematic at all! pic.twitter.com/roRDiTIeml— Sasha James (@ThatSashaJames) May 24, 2016
Actress Rose McGowan is among those who have criticised the poster, telling the Hollywood Reporter: “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. There is no context in the ad, just a woman getting strangled. The fact that no one flagged this is offensive and, frankly, stupid.”
The posters have been spotted in both Los Angeles and New York, but the extent to which it is being used in promotional material is currently unclear.
Fox has now responded to the criticism in a statement, saying: “We didn’t immediately realise the upsetting connotation of this image in print form.” The studio added that it “would never condone violence against women”.