Finnish PM Sanna Marin apologizes for leaked photo of topless influencers
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin apologized Tuesday for a photo showing a pair of topless influencers locking lips during a private party at her official residence.
“In my opinion, the picture is not appropriate,” Finland’s leader told reporters on Tuesday. “I apologize for it. That kind of a picture should not have been taken but otherwise, nothing extraordinary happened at the get-together.”
Marin’s public mea culpa over the X-rated display comes just days after leaked videos of her own wild dancing and partying at a separate event caused a backlash and prompted the prime minister to voluntarily undergo drug testing in a bid to clear her name.
Marin, who at age 36 is one of the world’s youngest leaders, said the latest controversial photo was taken during a private party with her friends at her residence in Helsinki after a music festival in July.
“We had sauna, swam and spent time together,” she said, describing the party at her seaside residence.
The photo showed the two well-known influencers kissing each other while covering their bare breasts with a sign that reads “Finland.”
Finns have been divided over Marin’s behavior, with some voicing support for the young leader for combining a private life with her high-profile career, while others have raised questions about whether her judgment would be impaired by her leisure activities.
Social Democrat leader Marin agreed on Friday to be subjected to drug testing, saying she had never taken drugs and that she had not seen anyone doing so at the party she attended, where she was recorded dancing and singing with abandon alongside a coterie of Finnish celebrities.
Finnish tabloid Seiska posted another video, purportedly taken later that same night at a Helsinki nightclub, which appears to show the prime minister, a married mom of one, dancing intimately with a mystery man to the Black Eyed Peas’ “I Got A Feeling.”
The publication cited a witness account saying that Marin, who has a 4-year-old child with her husband of two years, Markus Räikkönen, was spotted dancing closely with at least three different men and sitting on the laps of two men.
On Monday, Marin’s drug test came back negative.
Marin told Reuters in January that she and her fellow young female ministers have been targeted with extensive hate speech for their gender and appearance while in office.
Back in December 2021, she was forced to apologize for spending a night at a nightclub after coming into close contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID.
Marin said she missed a text message instructing her to self-isolate because she had left her work phone at home, although as prime minister she was supposed to have the device on her at all times.
With Post wires
