Did Mexico’s President Pay For A Selfie With Kevin Spacey?

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Published

May 17, 2014

It started out simply enough. Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto bumped into Kevin Spacey at a tourism expo in Cancun and seized the chance to take a selfie with him. Then, over the course of the next week, it all unravelled in a most un-Underwood like way: first, Forbes magazine blogged that the meeting had been pre-arranged; then that a selfie with Pena Nieto was part of the deal; then Mexican bloggers claimed that Spacey had pocketed $8 million for the photo op.

1 President is real. W/Pres Nieto in #Mexico. Good meeting a man also making progress in his 1st year in office. @EPN pic.twitter.com/9NnyLcsZxG

— Kevin Spacey (@KevinSpacey) May 7, 2014

The head of Mexico’s tourism board has said that the $8 million figure is “wrong and without a source”.

It’s stirred up a debate in Mexico over the intangible PR gains politicians make by associating themselves with celebrities. It’s also angered a lot of Mexican Spacey fans, with many protesting via his Facebook page: “Shame on you. How could you sell yourself to such a corrupt and illiterate president?” one person wrote.

If it were us? We might have chosen a celebrity less synonymous with political ruthlessness, corruption and manipulation, but hey. They do things differently in Mexico.