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Film Director Darren Aronofsky Is 'Furious' After Ad Agency Paints Over Iconic Mural To Promote His Film 'Mother!'

Aronofsky has apologised to the people of Newtown in Sydney.
Getty Images / Instagram

The director of the film 'mother!' has apologised to residents of a Sydney suburb after a local advertising agency painted over a much-loved mural to promote his film.

"Just read of ad agency in Sydney breaking #1 graffiti rule," Darren Aronofsky wrote on Twitter before apologising to the original artist, Colin Bebe.

"I'm embarrassed & furious. apologies to Bebe & I'll pay to replace piece."

The piece in question was the iconic 'It's like a jungle sometimes' mural in the inner-west Sydney suburb of Newtown.

Images of the 'mother!' mural were painted on September 2 and 3, but according to the 'Sydney Morning Herald' was covered with graffiti saying "No respect" before the weekend had finished.

By Tuesday, the company behind the 'mother!' mural issued an apology, and on Thursday Aronofsky also tweeted out his apology. By Friday morning, the mural was covered with blue paint.

Melbourne-based advertising agency, Apparition Media, was behind the promotion for the film and received a huge backlash across its social media channels where updates were being posted.

On one of Apparition's Instagram posts the Inner West Council commented that the company did not have the local authority's permission to paint over the mural, and claimed the display of advertisements in heritage areas was prohibited.

"The matter is now being investigated by Council's compliance section," the comment read.

Apparition was quick to backtrack, posting messages across its social media channels apologising to the outraged locals.

"We have expressed our regret for painting over it and apologised for our ignorance. We are going to work together to restore the original mural in the coming weeks.

Again, we apologise to the Newtown community for painting over this much loved mural, hopefully something good will come out of all of this."

Even after both Apparition and Aronofsky apologised, many still were outraged that the new mural of 'mother!' star Jennifer Lawrence was being completed.

By Friday morning the 'mother!' ad was painted over in blue with the following message:

"The jungle is returning in collaboration with the original artists

He has asked to remain anonymous, so please respect his wishes.

No profit has been made from this."

The wall now also includes the number for 24-hour suicide prevention hotline Lifeline.

According to Apparition the mural has been covered in blue and contains the information for Lifeline. The group said given the attention the wall was receiving, it could be put to good use to highlight the charity.

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