- In the contest, men and women stripped for a chance to win an iPhone.
- They were arrested and threatened with prison.
- One woman made a obsequious public apology after the pageant.
A striptease contest in which contestants took off their clothes for a chance to win an iPhone has sparked fury in Russia, with authorities forcing participants to make obsequious apologies and threatening them with prison.
Organizers asked two men and two women to go to the front of the club, reportedly located in a bunker in the southeastern region of Astrakhan, and start taking off their clothes.
Video footage from the evening showed three of them nervously stripping, while a 22-year-old woman was happy to strip for a chance to win the Apple product.
After Russian authorities arrested the four on stage, as well as several others who helped organize the event, and threatened them with 15 days in jail, the woman was forced to make a humble apology.
She said: ‘I am incredibly sorry for what I did. My actions were immoral and not at all normal. I am deeply ashamed of what I did.
While raunchy strip shows are common in Putin’s Russia, this contest was seen as a breach of the bounds of decency.
Video footage from the evening showed three of them nervously stripping, while a 22-year-old woman was happy to strip for a chance to win the Apple product.
The organizers and contestants were arrested by Russian authorities.
The woman, who did not reveal her identity, said in her humble apology: “I am incredibly sorry for what I did. My actions were immoral and not at all normal. I am deeply ashamed of what I did.”
“What I experienced today, these emotions, I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. I sincerely apologize to everyone. I apologize to my family and to my hometown.”
Vladimir Putin’s governor in the Astrakhan region, Igor Babushkin, expressed outrage at the incident, as police raided the club.
While raunchy strip shows are common in Putin’s Russia, this contest was seen as a violation of the bounds of decency.
“What happened at the Bunker nightclub is a disgrace for all of us,” said the governor loyal to the dictator.
‘At a time when thousands of our compatriots, regardless of their lives, are defending the Fatherland in the (war)… some inhuman people, who have lost all shame and conscience, carried out an immoral act that humiliates human dignity.’
The contestants stripped naked for a chance to win an iPhone.
The governor of the region accused them of selling out for ‘an American phone’
He raged in his online post: “Do you even know what a BUNKER is?”
‘Do you realize what is happening now in the real BUNKERS, there on the front lines?
‘They sold themselves for an American telephone, which the advertising industry and the media turned into a symbol of success and prosperity for an entire generation.’
The question was raised whether nudity should be allowed in Russia during the war started by Putin.
“I am sure that the public has a right to know by name all those who organised this brutality, who participated in it, flaunting their shame, who applauded and rejoiced at this outrage.”
