25-year-old Playboy model Jaylene Cook is caught up in the midst of a PR mess, a local Maori community pretty pissed at her nude photo atop Mount Taranaki.
Cook and her photographer partner Josh Shaw scaled the 2 530 metre mountain, snapped a picture and posted it to Instagram, and that’s where it all started to go south.
First up we’ll see the picture – suitable for work, unless your boss is a bit of a prude:
Shoes for grip, naturally.
I’m not going to populate this page with more evocative shots of Ms Cook, but let’s just say Google shows many results (HERE).
Here’s the Telegraph:
“Mount Taranaki has great spiritual significance to local Maori,” says the New Zealand government’s website.
“The crater and summit is the sacred head of Taranaki, the rocks and ridge are his bones, rivers his blood and plants and trees are his cloak and offer protection from the weather… Respect the mountain.”
Dennis Ngawhare, a local Maori academic and spokesman, said the community was offended by Ms Cook’s behaviour, adding that he and his family did not climb the mountain because they regarded it as an ancestor.
“I accept people climb up to the summit, but what we do ask is that people be respectful,” he said.
“I’d imagine you will be getting a few comments from people saying ‘what’s wrong with that? Who cares?’ But I also know cousins and relatives who will be quite upset about it. They would consider it as being disrespectful towards the mountain.”
The model has fought back, claiming that she was in no way disrespecting the Maori community:
“[The photo] is not crude or explicit in any way…We made ourselves knowledgeable on the history of the mountain. We were quite respectful. Being nude is not something that is offensive in any way. It’s natural and pure and it’s about freedom and empowerment.”
…Ms Cook said the temperature was 12F (-11C) but it was warmer than expected and allowed for the naked stunt.
“The sun up there was so beautiful that day, so it was not too bad,” she said.
Hey, as long as the weather was nice screw that local community and their pesky traditions about respecting ancestors.
You can keep an eye on her Instagram account, for research purposes of course, HERE.
[source:telegraph]
