Las Vegas casino pulls Guns N’ Roses ‘rape artwork’
The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas has cleaned up the promotional artwork it was using for Guns N’ Roses’ current residency, as it featured an image of a robot who had just sexually assaulted a woman.
The artwork used was originally meant to be on the cover of the band’s 1987 album ‘Appetite for Destruction’, but ended up on the inner sleeve so as not to cause undue controversy. The image was taken from underground cartoonist Robert Williams’ 1978 piece of the same name, reports Spin.
The casino released a statement which said: “Hard Rock Hotel & Casino regrets that the Guns N’ Roses advertising for their current shows has offended any member of the community. The resort has decided to further modify the art and began the process of changing the materials.”
Hard Rock International added: “Hard Rock International does not condone the advertisement or any depictions of sexual violence.”
This followed comments by Hannah Brook, executive director for Las Vegas’ Rape Crisis Center, who said to Las Vegas Review Journal: “This type of advertising is simply unacceptable. Not only for just the victims and the message of violence it brings, but also for the community in general.”
She continued: “This is not the type of message we want to portray to tourists that are coming to our city. We want them to know it’s a safe place to come, and by putting a message out there with Las Vegas above it is concerning.”
Guns N’ Roses have been booked to play 12 shows at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino’s The Joint venue, with the final gig taking place on November 24.
Source: NME
