Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wore brown face makeup to a party at the private school where he was teaching in the spring of 2001. TIME magazine has obtained a photograph of the incident and now the picture has gone viral.
As soon as Trudeau’s picture went viral, people have been calling him ‘racist’. “I apologise profoundly,” said the Canadian prime minister on Wednesday night after the photograph was published. “I regret it deeply. I’m deeply sorry I did that, I should have known better.”
He further added, “It was something I should not have done. I didn’t think it was racist at the time, but now I see, it was a racist thing to do.”
A photograph of Trudeau with brown makeup on his face, neck and hands and dressed in a turban and robes was published by TIME magazine on Wednesday. Apparently he was dressed up as Aladdin. It appeared in a school yearbook too, while Trudeau, then 29, was working as a teacher at West Point Grey Academy.
His political rivals seized on the opportunity to attack the one of the most popular global icons. Some are seeking his resignation calling him ‘unfit’ as prime minister.