8 of the worst celebrity tribute statues of all time – and the internet’s hilarious reactions to them: from Cristiano Ronaldo and Michael Jackson to Shakira, Princess Diana and Britney Spears
Surely there is no greater compliment as a celebrity or hometown hero than to have a permanent statue erected in your honour. At least, that’s the idea.
Despite these sculptors’ best efforts though, not everyone has fallen in love with their creations. Some famous people’s statues have appeared in art galleries, some in airports – still more in a celebrity’s own country to show them just how much they’re appreciated. But when all’s said and done, perhaps they’d have been better just naming a street after them …
Read on for eight of the most cringeworthy celebrity statue tributes to date.
1. Shakira
At the end of last year, Shakira’s hometown of Barranquilla in Colombia unveiled a giant 6.5-metre-tall (21ft 3 inches-tall) gold and red statue of the singer midway through a classic “Hips Don’t Lie” pose. The star was touched by the piece, which was designed by a local sculpture professor and his students. “This is too much for my little heart,” she wrote on social media.
However, some fans weren’t impressed by its sheer gaudiness. “Why does this remind me of something that would be in Zoolander?” one wrote on Reddit.
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2. Andy Murray
Andy Murray looked as bemused as everyone else when the Shanghai Rolex Masters presented him with a life-size sculpture of him as a terracotta warrior. Even the host at the unveiling said it looked more like 17th century physicist Isaac Newton than the three-time grand slam champion, as seen in a video of the event.
3. Melania Trump
US artist Brad Downey commissioned this wooden carving of the former first lady to be erected in her home country of Slovenia. The sculptor, known as Maxi, opted for a somewhat abstract representation that went down like a lead balloon with locals. One resident told ITV news: “It doesn’t look anything like Melania. It’s a Smurfette. It’s a disgrace.”
When an unknown arsonist burned the statue down a year later, some netizens joked it was probably Melania herself who lit the match.
4. Kate Moss
Kate Moss seemed to be given the ultimate accolade when sculptor Marc Quinn immortalised her in solid gold. At 50kg, it became the largest gold statue made by man since ancient Egyptian times, according to The Telegraph. One key question remains though: why is she in that position?
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5. Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed
6. Michael Jackson
After MJ shot his “They Don’t Care About Us” music video in Morro Dona Marta in Brazil, the town decided to dedicate a statue to him. When one local posted a photo of it to X (formerly Twitter), however, ridicule quickly followed.
“Be serious, what is this,” wrote one user. “It looks like something a 5 year [old] makes out of playdough.”
7. Britney Spears
Reportedly a pro-life artwork, it was supposed to depict the “Oops I Did It Again” singer bringing her firstborn Sean Preston into the world, per Wired. However, most deemed the piece vulgar.
“I thought she had a caesarean? Or is that not the point?” wrote one user on Mumsnet.
“My assistant and I were totally dumbfounded when we saw it,” Spears later told WENN. “We couldn’t believe somebody actually did this.”
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8. Cristiano Ronaldo
But the award for the worst statue of all time – or at least the most unflattering – has to go to the bust of football star Cristiano Ronaldo on his home island of Madeira in Portugal. Immediately trolled online for the fact that it looked like anyone but the famous footballer, even SNL dedicated an entire skit to it, with Kate McKinnon joking that she couldn’t see the problem:
“This is the perfect image of Ronaldo playing football,” she said. “See how the artist captured his look right when the ball hits him in the face?”
- Kate Moss’ likeness became the largest man-made gold statue since ancient Egyptian times – unfortunately, her groin was the most prominent thing about it
- Melania Trump’s sculpture also raised eyebrows in Slovenia, with locals saying she looked more like Smurfette, while Andy Murray’s expression at the unveiling of his statue in Shanghai said it all