The source of a photo of Justin Trudeau appearing in brownface at a 2001 event sa国际传媒� the first to rock the Liberal leadersa国际传媒檚 re-election campaign sa国际传媒� broke his silence Friday to say he was acting with the publicsa国际传媒檚 interest at heart.
Michael Adamsonsa国际传媒檚 statement said his decision to send a yearbook containing the photo to a reporter at Time magazine sa国际传媒渨as motivated solely by the belief that the Canadian public had a right to see it.sa国际传媒�
The statement went on to say that Adamson has never been a member of a political party, and he did not receive any payment for providing the photograph to the American publication.
The 18-year-old image of Trudeau sa国际传媒� his face, hands and neck completely darkened by makeup while wearing an elaborate turban and robe to be made up like the character Aladdin sa国际传媒� was taken during an sa国际传媒淎rabian Nightssa国际传媒� gala hosted by West Point Grey Academy, a private school in Vancouver where Trudeau was a teacher at the time.
Time published the image one week after the federal election campaign officially began, and described Adamson as a Vancouver businessman who was sa国际传媒減art of the West Point Grey Academy community.sa国际传媒�
Adamson said in his statement he had heard gossip about the photo because of his position in the private school community, and was able to obtain a copy of the yearbook to send to the Time reporter.
The controversy around Trudeausa国际传媒檚 appearance in brownface deepened when he admitted to wearing blackface as well and more images emerged, throwing the campaign into chaos when the instances became public starting Sept. 18.
While the conversation around the incidents themselves sa国际传媒� and Trudeausa国际传媒檚 response to the political crisis sa国际传媒� continued, some questioned how the initial photo had been missed by Canadian journalists and politicians, and instead found its way to an American magazine.
Scrutiny turned to Adamson, who was named in the Time piece, but was not immediately reachable by journalists looking to follow up.
ALSO READ: Jean Chretian on how Trudeau handled blackface controversy
Details first published in The Globe and Mail revealed Adamson was a consistent donor to private schools and other causes in Vancouver and was involved with an export company.
The newspaper also reported that Adamson had a connection to one of the Time reporters responsible for publishing the photo through his son, who went to Cornell University in the U.S. with the Time reporter. Adamson himself donated to the Ivy League school.
Adamson said he will not be making any more public comments on the issue, and asked for privacy.
READ MORE: sa国际传媒業 shouldnsa国际传媒檛 have done it,sa国际传媒� Trudeau says of brownface photo
RELATED: Alberta premier calls Trudeausa国际传媒檚 behaviour an sa国际传媒榠nsulting, racial mockerysa国际传媒�
Christian Paas-Lang, The Canadian Press
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