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Hard Rock Hotel Alters Controversial GUNS N' ROSES Artwork Following Criticism

November 4, 2012

The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino has responded to the controvery over a image promoting GUNS N' ROSES' concerts in Las Vegas that appears to depict a woman who has been sexually assaulted under the world-famous "Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas" sign by removing the woman from the artwork (see below).

The image, which is said to be a watered-down version of the banned cover for the band's classic 1987 debut, "Appetite For Destruction", was used in mainstream advertising, including newspaper promotions and taxicab placards.

The Hard Rock Hotel said in a statement released Friday, "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 (Friday)."

"This type of advertising is simply unacceptable," Hannah Brook, executive director for The Rape Crisis Center, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "Not only for just the victims and the message of violence it brings, but also for the community in general. 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."

Commissioner Mary Beth Scow oversaw the October 29 event temporarily renaming Paradise Road as Paradise City Road in honor of GUNS N' ROSES' first-ever residency, Appetite For Democracy, at The Joint.

"I hadn't seen the advertising before the media event," she told the Las Vegas Sun. "It's clearly inappropriate. Maybe it's the risk of doing business with a rock band, but I guess we'll have some remorse over this decision. It's a lesson learned."

A KTNV-TV video report on the controversy can be seen below.

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