Sarah Dzafce, who represented Finland at the recent Miss Universe pageant, lost her Miss Finland crown after posting a photo that sparked a huge racism controversy. The 22-year-old shared a picture where she pulled the corners of her eyes into a slanted pose. The caption read “eating with a Chinese,” making the situation even worse. This gesture is widely seen as deeply offensive to East Asian people.
According to BBC, the post quickly caused outrage not only in Finland but also in Japan, South Korea, and China. Dzafce tried to explain herself, but her excuse didn’t help at all. She claimed she was reacting to a bad headache during dinner and said a friend added the caption without her permission.
Dzafce posted an apology on Instagram, saying the photo had “caused ill will in many people” and that she never meant to offend anyone. “That was not my intention in any way… One of the most important things for me is respect for people, their backgrounds and differences,” she continued. However, many people criticized the apology for being insincere because she wrote it entirely in Finnish. Critics pointed out that if she wanted to apologize to the international community she should have written it in English too.
The political mess made everything worse
Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo called the gesture “thoughtless and stupid” on Monday. He said the controversy was damaging Finland’s reputation around the world.
Things got stranger when two right-wing Finnish lawmakers, Juho Eerola and Kaisa Garedew, posted photos of themselves copying Dzafce’s controversial gesture. Their actions drew immediate criticism.
Similar to how a business owner faced backlash online, public figures often face severe consequences for controversial actions. Eerola later apologized and deleted his post, saying he thought Dzafce received unfairly harsh punishment.
Prime Minister Orpo called the lawmakers’ behavior “childish” and said they should know better. Reports say The Finns Party is now considering whether to punish both MPs. Companies have also learned that defending controversial decisions can backfire when the public doesn’t accept their explanations.
The controversy also hurt Finnair, Finland’s national airline. The company told public broadcaster Yle that the incident negatively affected their business, with some people calling for tourists to boycott Finland completely. Finnair posted a statement on its Japanese X account promising to welcome everyone with respect and clarifying that the lawmakers’ posts don’t represent the airline’s values.
The Finnish embassy in Japan received many complaints and questions about how Finland would address racism. In an X post, the embassy admitted that racism “remains a challenge in Finnish society” and needs continuous work to fix.
The Miss Finland Organisation said removing Dzafce’s crown was a “difficult but necessary” decision. They explained that Miss Finland must be a role model who respects all people regardless of their background or appearance.
The organization apologized for the harm caused, especially to the Asian community, and stated that racism is never acceptable. This incident happened right after an already troubled Miss Universe pageant in Thailand, which faced accusations of rigging and had several contestants walk out.
Published: Dec 18, 2025 11:54 am