Seoul mates?
With the whispers reaching an almost deafening level, the president decided to speak out. "Shameful! Dishonourable!" he cried, in denying rumours that he had been involved in an affair with popular singer Edyta Górniak.
The media had been hinting, rather than explicitly reporting, that something was going on between the president and Górniak, 18 years his junior. The affair allegedly began in the summer when both were in South Korea to watch Poland play in the World Cup. She sang the Polish national anthem, to a rather curious personal interpretation, not essentially in line with the orchestra. The national players said it detracted from their game. Górniak said she was trying to be creative.
Finally, the president concluded something had to be done to put a stop to the gossip. "In the first place, all of it is completely untrue," he told reporters. "Second, I consider spreading these rumours as dishonourable to me, my wife and my family, and also to Miss Górniak and those close to her."
A clearly furious president also had some advice for the journalists who had been spreading the rumours. "I think that, as journalists, you should reflect on certain principles which must bind you as well; it doesn't work that way, that all gossip is suitable for exploitation, even if it is done in the belief that you're responding to the interests of public opinion.
"As politicians are under the obligations of certain ethics so, too, are journalists. It's not like this, that in your profession everything is for sale and everything can be bought - it's not like this."
The mainstream dailies appeared to take the president's lecture to heart, and the story and his denials went largely ignored in the following day's press. The electronic media, however, were less reticent, with one leading website reporting that it had known about the story for months, but had previously dismissed it as too incredible.
Meanwhile, the conspiracy theorists were also having their say, suggesting that the saga was the invention of the president's political opponents. They were getting back at him, so the theory went, because they believed he was in some way responsible for dragging the prime minister's name into the Gazeta-gate affair.
And so the country was left wondering about the president and the pop star: there are no signs that the rumour mill was by any means exhausted. Górniak, who is said to be out of the country, reportedly in the United Kingdom, had not offered any comment by our press time.
The media had been hinting, rather than explicitly reporting, that something was going on between the president and Górniak, 18 years his junior. The affair allegedly began in the summer when both were in South Korea to watch Poland play in the World Cup. She sang the Polish national anthem, to a rather curious personal interpretation, not essentially in line with the orchestra. The national players said it detracted from their game. Górniak said she was trying to be creative.
Finally, the president concluded something had to be done to put a stop to the gossip. "In the first place, all of it is completely untrue," he told reporters. "Second, I consider spreading these rumours as dishonourable to me, my wife and my family, and also to Miss Górniak and those close to her."
A clearly furious president also had some advice for the journalists who had been spreading the rumours. "I think that, as journalists, you should reflect on certain principles which must bind you as well; it doesn't work that way, that all gossip is suitable for exploitation, even if it is done in the belief that you're responding to the interests of public opinion.
"As politicians are under the obligations of certain ethics so, too, are journalists. It's not like this, that in your profession everything is for sale and everything can be bought - it's not like this."
The mainstream dailies appeared to take the president's lecture to heart, and the story and his denials went largely ignored in the following day's press. The electronic media, however, were less reticent, with one leading website reporting that it had known about the story for months, but had previously dismissed it as too incredible.
Meanwhile, the conspiracy theorists were also having their say, suggesting that the saga was the invention of the president's political opponents. They were getting back at him, so the theory went, because they believed he was in some way responsible for dragging the prime minister's name into the Gazeta-gate affair.
And so the country was left wondering about the president and the pop star: there are no signs that the rumour mill was by any means exhausted. Górniak, who is said to be out of the country, reportedly in the United Kingdom, had not offered any comment by our press time.
