Fox finally issues apology for X-Men ads showing Jennifer Lawrence being strangled
Fox has apologised for using images of Jennifer Lawrence being strangled by Oscar Isaac alongside the tagline "Only the strong will survive" in the promotion for X-Men: Apocalypse.
The advertisement for the latest film in the X-Men franchise shows Jennifer Lawrence's character Mystique being strangled by Oscar Isaac's Apocalypse and has been widely criticised for months.
Fox eventually responded to the backlash with a statement to the Hollywood reporter saying: " 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."
"Once we realized how insensitive it was, we quickly took steps to remove those materials. We apologized for our actions and would never condone violence against women," the statement continued.
While the move goes someway to addressing the controversy the delay in issuing the apology is likely to reflect badly on the media giant. The images have been circulating for almost a year having first emerged in a press package in July 2015 before appearing on billboards for the last four months.
One notable critic of the billboards was actress Rose McGowan who vocalised her disapproval of the images during a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter.
She said: "There is no context in the ad, just a woman getting strangled. The fact that no one flagged this is offensive and frankly, stupid."
She went on to call out the media company, asking, "Since you can't manage to put any women directors on your slate for the next two years, how about you at least replace your ad?"