20th Century Fox has released a statement apologising for a billboard ad for recently-released film X-Men: Apocalypse which has been slammed by many for depicting violence against women.
The ad shows the film's antagonist, Apocalypse (played by Oscar Isaac), choking Mystique (played by Jennifer Lawrence) with the tag line, "Only the strong will survive".
"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," a statement from Fox given to The Hollywood Reporter reads.
"Once we realized how insensitive it was, we quickly took steps to remove those materials. We apologize for our actions and would never condone violence against women."
The controversy surrounding the billboard was sparked by US actress Rose McGowan who questioned why the advertisement was approved.
"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," McGowan 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. 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."
