Twentieth Century Fox has been forced to apologise after promoting X-Men: Apocalypse with an image of Jennifer Lawrence's character being strangled.The studio was slammed for using billboards and posters which showed the film's villain, played by Oscar Isaac, choking superhero Mystique.Actress Rose McGowan was among those to voice concern about "casual violence against women" being used to market the latest X-Men film .Following opposition to the advert, 20th Century Fox said it was removing the image from promotional materials for the blockbuster.
In a statement, the studio said: "In our enthusiasm to show the villainy of the character Apocalypse we didn't immediately recognise the upsetting connotation of this image in print form."Once we realised how insensitive it was, we quickly took steps to remove those materials. We apologise for our actions and would never condone violence against women."
McGowan told 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 geniuses behind this, and I use that term lightly, need to to take a long hard look at the mirror and see how they are contributing to society."