A photo of a sculpture of Marilyn Monroe created by Egyptian sculptor and university professor Ehab Al Asiouty, has gone viral on social media... for all the wrong reasons.
The piece was placed outside Cairo's Opera House as part of Al Asiouty's latest exhibition, held on the 13th of June.
According to Al Ahram Online, a person attending the exhibition's opening night, spotted the figure, then shared a photo of it on social media, with the caption: "This catastrophe is displayed outside the Opera House."
His photo went viral, with thousands taking to social media platforms in response to it.
While a few people posted extremely harsh comments, many others took to humor, hilariously reacting to the whole thing.
Here's the statue that caused the online stir
Some tried to compare it to the statue of Monroe in Chicago... but couldn't
Others compared it to Abu Lahab
A few were terrified of it...
Others just couldn't even
"Why? Why is there a sculpture of Marilyn Monroe in Egypt?"
A few vented through sarcasm
"Given that we're a conservative country, it's only fit that we assassinate the world's most legendary sex symbol."
What do you mean it's not exactly like the original?
"This is exactly like the original, just a bit overdone"
"This is so epic it should go in Madame Tussauds"
Al Asiouty speaks out
Following the intense social media backlash his work received, Al Asiouty spoke to Al Ahram Online, explaining that most people who shared the photo on social media aren't sculptors and therefore lack the ability to critique his work.
Al Asiouty also spoke out on Dream TV's Television program 10 PM (Al Ashera Masa'an), accusing a certain Egyptian professor of Fine Arts, Issam D, of being behind what he described as an "organized campaign" against his work.