Taika Waititi claims Instagram removed his 'vulgar' photo celebrating Oscar win

Taika Waititi celebrated his Oscar win with a humourous photo that he says was removed by Instagram. Photo / AP

Taika Waititi has reposted a photo of himself with his Oscar on Instagram because he says it was "taken down", and his famous friends have weighed in.

The picture in question shows Waititi with his Oscar for best adapted screenplay, almost completely covered with a printed image of himself that he crumpled against his body.

The filmmaker wrote: "Instagram took this picture down because...Umm...Well...the thing is..Ok I have no idea."

He denied that the photo is of himself holding his "crotch."

"It's a picture of me holding a picture of me.

"And no, that's not my crotch." he says.

Actor Ryan Reynolds responded with his tongue firmly in his cheek, commenting on the picture: "Vulgar."

View this post on Instagram

Instagram took this picture down because... Umm... Well... the thing is.. Ok I have no idea. It's a picture of me holding a picture of me. And no, that's not my crotch.

A post shared by Taika Waititi (@taikawaititi) on Feb 18, 2020 at 10:51am PST

The Deadpool actor is starring alongside Waititi in a new movie Free Guy directed by Shawn Levy, also starring Jodie Comer and Stranger Things star Joe Keery.

Olivia Wilde weighed in too. The Booksmart director wrote: "Obscene! My virgin eyes! How dare you."

Happy Endings actor Adam Pally says the photo was "grosser the second time".

Dream come true to work with Ryan Gosnolds for the first time ever! https://t.co/0rMbuGgPuk

— Taika Waititi (@TaikaWaititi) May 14, 2019

Fans shared their thoughts on Instagram removing the photo.

"You broke the internet, Taika!" says one fan.

Another wrote: "It also happens to be the sexiest thing on the internet."

"So ridiculous, it's a great picture."

Others say they could see why the photo was removed.

"I think [it was taken down] because your left hand is in the wrong area."

Another fan commented: "I was thinking that was your crotch...but I'm surprised they took it down, I've seen worse that's been taken down."

Waititi also promoted the release of Jojo Rabbit on DVD and Blu-ray, joking that he has some "bootleg copies" if anyone wanted to meet him in a carpark to get them.