Recreating a celebrity image can be a gamble, particularly when the image in question is widely regarded as a defining pop-culture moment.
Hacks star Paul W. Downs discovered that firsthand after replicating Mark Wahlberg’s groin-grabbing pose from his 1992 Calvin Klein campaign in a recent photoshoot for Paper magazine.
Instead of applauding the homage, many social media users mocked it, with reactions ranging from playful jabs to outright disgust.
“He is holding on to his lineage,” one commented, while another wrote, “Seriously? Gross! It won’t fall off — you don’t have to hang on to it.”
Paul W. Downs’ recreation of Mark Wahlberg’s famous Calvin Klein ad drew a wave of criticism
Image credits: paulwdowns/Instagram
Downs’s picture was published in Paper magazine on Monday, June 8. It had his bare chest on full display, while only white briefs covered his bottom half.
Wahlberg had dressed similarly in his picture.
Image credits: PAPER Magazine
While the latter was called “delicious” for his photoshoot, a netizen unreservedly informed Downs that his picture was “not hitting.”
“It looks forced,” a second wrote.
“This is so embarrassing,” noted a third.
“Have some decorum,” the next advised.
Image credits: Calvin Klein
Many users responded to the photo with denial, joking that they would “pretend it’s AI” for the sake of their mental health.
Downs’s fans, meanwhile, expressed that the picture reminded them of his amateur adult entertainer character, Kirk Steele, in the Comedy Central series Broad City.
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“Welcome back, Kirk Steele,” one wrote.
“That’s Kirk Steele, and he is on a mission,” remarked another.
The picture also reminded viewers of Nick Jonas recreating the Mark Wahlberg pose in 2014
Image credits: Flaunt
“Nick Jonas did it first,” a user said.
The This Is Heaven hitmaker was just 22 when he paid tribute to Mark Wahlberg’s Calvin Klein campaign, recreating his signature pose for a photoshoot with Flaunt magazine.
Captured by Yu Tsai, Nick noted at the time that his bulked-up physique, gained while preparing to play an MMA fighter on the television series Kingdom, was highly comparable to Wahlberg’s in his younger days.
Nick’s father famously expressed his pride in the image, texting him, “You know you get that from me, right?”
Image credits: Flaunt
The photo also helped shatter Jonas’s squeaky-clean former boy-band-member image with shock value and viral attention.
Nick won in the comparison of who recreated Mark Wahlberg’s iconic ad better, following Downs’s recent pictures.
“Weak retread of Mark Wahlberg’s very famous photo. Doesn’t even rise to the level of Nick Jonas’s retread of it from 2014,” a user said.
Paul W. Downs also teamed up with his Hacks co-star Meg Stalter for several Paper magazine photos
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Downs and Stalter play Jimmy and Kayla, a very chaotic workplace pairing who evolve into unconventional business partners in Hacks.
While the series ended with its fifth and final season on May 28, their Paper magazine photoshoot, where they posed in only a pair of jeans, according to netizens, oozed chemistry strong enough to inspire a spinoff.
“They need a spinoff. These two together are absolutely unhinged,” one said.
“Announce their spinoff show now,” a second demanded.
“I am so obsessed with them. I need that Jimmy-Kayla spinoff immediately,” a third added.
Image credits: PAPER Magazine
Others, meanwhile, were content with Downs and Stalter getting the spotlight in the photoshoot.
“Putting these comedic royalty in front of the camera was a smart move,” a fan stated.
“This is like watching two people get the high-fashion treatment they never asked for but absolutely earned,” wrote another.
“This is not a photoshoot. It is a heist where they stole the concept of glamour and replaced it with whatever manic energy they brought to Hacks,” a separate user said.
Image credits: PAPER Magazine
While only time will tell if Stalter and Downs star in a Hacks spinoff, their individual schedules are booked for the near future.
Stalter is all set to expand her career beyond television by making her Broadway debut in the hit comedy Oh, Mary! on July 6.
She will be taking over the temperamental, alcoholic role of Mary Todd Lincoln from Maya Rudolph.
She is also stepping into the music industry with her debut album, Crave, set to release this summer. She dropped an electropop track titled Prettiest Girl in America from the offering on May 1.
Downs, meanwhile, is reportedly focusing on scaling his production company, Paulilu, alongside his wife and creative partner, Lucia Aniello.
“He doesn’t have the attitude that Mark had,” a netizen said about Downs
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