UPDATE 22/07/16: The ‘RIP Taylor Swift’ mural in Melbourne has been painted over yet again, with the likeness of Kanye West and the words “murdered Taylor Swift on Snapchat” added to the artwork.
ORIGINAL STORY: Following on from that RIP Taylor Swift mural popping up in Melbourne yesterday, it seems a mystery artist has gone and painted over the masterpiece with the face of the SpongeGar meme and rededicated it to Harambe, the gorilla who was shot recently after a child fell in its enclosure.
Posted to Instagram by the mural’s original creator Lushsux with the caption “WHO DID THIS?!?!”, Music Feeds reached out to the artist to ask if they know who was responsible for the new version.
“Someone had painted a really crude penis into Taylor’s mouth during the day, someone had snapchatted me it,” Lushsux says.
“But I went down to hosier at around three in the morning to see if any rabid Taylor Swift fans or other miscreants had added to the mess. Greeted with a Harambe memorial instead of a Taylor Swift. Got to just laugh about that I guess.”
Asked about whether this was a response to a threat of legal action, Lushlux remained tight-lipped, saying only that “as for the legal matter it’s best not to say anything. Obviously, haha”.
When it came to Swift’s fans and the rabid hatred with which they’ve responded to the mural, Lushlux was more willing to talk.
“It’s a bit of fun but her fans are like jihadists or hitler youth on steroids,” Lushlux says.
Still, a little hatred isn’t enough to discourage Lushlux, as he put it: “Hate mail doesn’t worry me I’m like Darth Vader I let the hate flow through me.”
While it’s not really clear who the revised mural is throwing shade at, with SpongeGar usually being used to show disgust or savage behaviour, and Harambe being a gorilla, it’s safe to say it’s not a message of support for Swift.
The “re-imagining” of the mural comes after Swift’s legal team sent the street artist an email threatening legal action:
His response was classic, though, pointing out that the mural was actually dedicated to ‘Taylor Smith’…
… and here’s how the mural looks now:
