A tobacco shop has sparked outrage after a “disgusting” mural featuring rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and Justin Bieber was painted on the front wall of the shop.
Pro Art Sydney, a store that sells snacks, painting supplies, tobacco and smoking paraphernalia, shared an image of its newest mural on Instagram over the weekend.
The artwork adorned on the front of the store on Cleveland Street in Surry Hills shows Combs looking at Bieber with wide eyes, with the rapper and singer separated by a bottle of baby oil.
Australians were outraged by the “art”, with many stating that the mural was “shameful” considering Combs’ recent arrest and charges.
‘Absolutely disgusting. “I’m sorry, but anyone who thinks it’s funny is a moron,” one said.
“That’s disrespectful not only to Justin Bieber, but to all victims of sexual assault in the world. It’s repulsive,” wait a second.
Combs, 54, was arrested in New York earlier this month and handed an indictment accusing him of years of coercion and abuse while using blackmail and violence to control his victims.
He was charged with sex trafficking and related crimes, and will likely spend about 10 years behind bars if convicted.
Pro Art Sydney mural showing Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs staring at Justin Bieber with wide eyes, a bottle of baby oil between them.
Bieber and Diddy had a close professional relationship during the early years of the Baby hitmaker’s career.
Among the most harrowing claims is how federal agents seized 1,000 bottles of baby oil from his homes in Miami and Los Angeles during raids in March.
Justin Bieber’s previously close bond with the disgraced rapper has since come under intense scrutiny, with disturbing videos of a 15-year-old Bieber spending ’48 Hours with Diddy’, as well as the pair partying together, resurfacing on line.
However, store owner Winston Cooley told Daily Mail Australia that “95 per cent” of people found the mural “funny”, while the other five per cent were not people who visited his store.
“There will always be someone who is offended,” he said.
‘It wasn’t a deep thought and it wasn’t something to offend people.
‘We just thought about “what’s in the news right now” and it was about P Diddy and baby oil. “So I thought, let’s make a meme and put it on the front.”
He compared it to another iconic mural of Tony Abbott dressed as a bride and marrying himself, which was created by artist Scottie Marsh as a commentary on same-sex marriage.
“You can paint things like that, and there will be a lot of people who find it offensive, and there will be a lot of people who will like it,” Cooley said.
‘I don’t see how the one on the front that was painted by someone is different. You’re going to piss off some people, others are going to like it. What can you do?
“I’m just running a business, you know, independent and available, and I really don’t want to put something out there that’s going to make everyone abuse me.”
The owner of the store, Winston Cooley, explained that the mural was not intended to offend and was just a meme of the current news related to the accusations and charges P.Diddy is facing.
Cooley said he will replace the mural within a week (pictured, another mural painted on the front of the Pro Art Sydney store)
Cooley said he would replace the mural sometime this week.
“No matter what I think, personally, I’d rather not post things that offend people,” Cooley said.
This one obviously did. And I thought I really didn’t want to leave him like that and just abuse him by the police.’
While he received hate mail for the mural, Cooley said he spoke with the artist on Sunday, who told him he had been offered a full-time job because of the painting.
“He said people told him they didn’t have a problem with the mural and didn’t find anything offensive, but he understands why I want to change it,” Cooley said.
He has a job thanks to it. They offered him a full-time job and other people offered to paint his room.