Influencer Alesya Kafelnikova apologises over nude photoshoot with endangered elephant
Russian fashion model-influencer Alesya Kafelnikova was forced to apologise after posing naked on top of an endangered elephant in Bali.
Daughter of Russian tennis great Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the influencer had shared a video last week of her posing naked on the back of an elephant, which she has since deleted from her Instagram.
The model explained in a follow-up post that she had donated to the animals and local people in the Balinese village where the shoot took place. However, many of her followers had slammed the shoot as “vulgar” and “disrespectful”.
Kafelnikova added her messages in Bahasa Indonesia in the follow-up Instagram post, seemingly to reach out to the Balinese people. “We love Balinese culture and respect Indonesian rules. Please sorry if you see something else in this. My intention with these pictures was to show you that I love and respect animals and especially elephants, more than anything,” she said.
While the influencer said she was sorry and “didn’t have a purpose to hurt the feelings of local people”, she also claimed that it is “a pity that people see this as vulgarity, and not as a beauty and love for nature”.
Justifying her photos as a private photoshoot, Kafelnikova wished her critics will “awaken an aesthetic love” from my photos and “see the wonderful beauty in it”.
According to The Sun, Bali Tourism Agency Chief Putu Astawa had criticised Kafelnikova’s actions. He said that her photoshoot “surely does not meet the norms that we are promoting as part of tourism in Bali”.
The Sumatran elephant, on which the model posed atop, was labelled “Critically Endangered” by the WWF since 2012 due to deforestation and its habitat degradation.
