est. 2007

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Banks Brewery Calendar Girl 2007 Who Was Fired Tells Her Side Of The Tale

Saskia Griffith says this controversy will pass – hopefully sooner than later. In fairness to Saskia Griffith, we voiced our opinion when she participated in the Eye Candy Show staged by Chetwyn Stuart and company of Power X Four fame.  Let us discuss her side of the story.  We don’t see the benefit in Saskia…

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Saskia Griffith says this controversy will pass – hopefully sooner than later.

In fairness to Saskia Griffith, we voiced our opinion when she participated in the Eye Candy Show staged by Chetwyn Stuart and company of Power X Four fame.  Let us discuss her side of the story.  We don’t see the benefit in Saskia coming public — what can you say to justify how responsible citizens would perceive you, a twenty one year old, sitting in a tub of chocolate 95% naked with men and women ogling at you?  The Nation article was obviously crafted by your handlers in an attempt to retrieve your good “reputation”. As a twenty one year old, you are entitled to choose the career path which you desire but don’t expect to be in the “flesh exposing” business operating in a conservative society such as Barbados and not be perceived as a slut.

The following quotes in the Nation newspaper attributed to you make you appear to be a simple girl. If you are under contract by Banks Brewery they have the right to manage under the terms of the contract. If they have ignored your exploits in the past it does not mean that they have to now. However we agree that the inconsistency shown by them could have confused you and reflects poorly on them:-

However, the 21-year-old beauty said it was all in the spirit of the Crop-Over season and she could not understand why it had created such a big fuss. She told the SUNDAY SUN that for the first few days after her story went public via an article in the SATURDAY SUN of August 11, she didn’t even want to leave her home.

(snip)

Calling Banks’ actions hypocritical, Saskia noted that photographs of previous Banks Calendar Girl winners, featured on the Banks website (up until a few days ago) “were more explicit and revealing than anything I have done in any promotion in which I have participated”. She also accused some members of the public of such hypocrisy.

We don’t want to end this unless we take a swipe at Chetwyn Stuart who seems hell bent on using sex to market all that he touches. It is his right to do so of course within the bounds of decency and the laws of Barbados.  However, we cannot help ourselves if we are disappointed that a key stakeholder in the Crop Over Festival elects to pin his participation on mainly sex.

But then again sex sells and money is the name of the game; how could we have forgotten!

Saskia, our advise to you is to say less, and don’t be manipulated by money-seeking individuals. We assure you that they, the money-seeking persons have no interest in you, the person; only what you can do for them.

Respect yourself!

 

Previous BU Story

Banks Brewery Tells Calendar Girl 2007, You Are Fired!

32 responses to “Banks Brewery Calendar Girl 2007 Who Was Fired Tells Her Side Of The Tale”

  1. Roger Rabbitt Avatar
    Roger Rabbitt

    Don’t know if this should elicit any comment, but this to my mind, is not news-worthy.
    The story should have dealt with Chetwyn Stuart. Money-grabber Chetwyn. Reminds me of some other “important” people. I wonder if he is a member of that “crowd”.

  2. Undertaker Avatar
    Undertaker

    I agree BU I could have said it better myself “and not be perceived as a slut.”

    A lot of girls in the past some beautiful and smart, and some beautiful and dumb, have used the banks reign has a was of boosting or even starting a career. She had options, but when seems to be easily misled. Sometimes you have to stand up for yourself and not let people think for you. Body paint is one thing but, dipping chocolate and have people drooling etc. that is bordering on cheapness, and slutty.

    I also saw two other girls in the chocolate pic whom seem to love attention any type.

  3. YUM YUM I like it! Avatar
    YUM YUM I like it!

    Get over it!

    A naked female – so what!

    In some countries you can see bare breasts on TV at peak evening viewing times. It is time Barbadians started to get more realistic about issues of nudity. It is not what you see, it is the way it is put across that makes an image pornography.

    Why is that ‘wining’, which at times resembles simulated sex, is OK? But try showing a bit of tit and that is somehow out of order.

    People should just grow up!

  4. David Avatar
    David

    YUM YUM I Like it!~we hear the argument which you put all the time. Let it slide let it slide and to what level it slides there is always a justifiable reason. Our question to you would be if your were out socializing and Saskia was your daughter in the tub, would your view be the same?

  5. Avatar
    Anonymous

    What a dumb naive girl

  6. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Well,well,well,finally the penny has dropped.

    I felt from the outset that the person who deserved equal condemnation was chetwyn stuart – and his low morals.

    Since I don’t know anything about his past activities – I waited to hear more about this man who felt no disquiet in using a young (22 years) woman in such a humiliating way,although she has to share the blame for part in the affair.

    I wondered then: who is this chetwyn stuart?

    Then I reflected on his band Power by Four – I wondered – did this chocolate event happened after the death of his co-band owner Adrian Franklyn?

    If it did – then I will have to accept what the Rev.Erringto Massiah said at the funeral – God will smite Barbados because of the moral decline and the direction it is going.

    I reflected on the type of nakedness which is the hallmark of his band costumes – Power By Four.

    Now reading in the Nation of this use of naked women with body paint in other party events by the said Chetwyn Stuart – suggests to me a very sick,greedy man with a depraved mind – capable of using our vulnerable young women for his own selfish gain.

    More and more these vermin seem to becoming part and parcel of every day life and business in Barbados.

  7. YUM YUM I like it! Avatar
    YUM YUM I like it!

    I don’t have a daughter, thankfully, but I see your point. I actually have a son, and when he is 21 he can do what he likes.

    I was not commenting specifically on this Saskia episode, as I think she made a poor decision in being involved in this ‘show’. Not least because (as I have said previously) that the ‘show’ was not well executed and most definitely was not ART! She SHOULD have been reprimanded but not sacked.

    As to the SLIDE you talk of, I think this is typical conservative rhetoric and panic-mongering. People should learn that the naked form is not something to snigger and blush about, like a 12 year old boy! In fact naked bodies are FAR less erotic than ones with clothing which hints at nakedness. Think about it.

    Personally it drives me crazy when I watch American TV and there is little fuzzy bit over the nipples (on medical documentaries!) or words cut out of the song. If the song is too offensive to play on your network don’t play the damn thing, but don’t give us this cut up rubbish! There is a song ‘Beautiful Girl’ around at the moment and on the video the TV censors have cut out the word ‘suicidal’- WHY??? Just in case loads of kids will go out and kill themselves! Its stupid!

    Anyway, all I meant was that this society needs to be more even handed with what it considers smut. THere is a lot of hypocrisy around issues of decency, and conservative rules only put distance between the young and old. Given the information, images and communication options available to our young people, through the internet etc, it is only right that we have a ‘sensible’ approach to teaching them what is right and wrong. Prudishness on issues of sexuality etc only serves to produce ill-informed young adults who are not equipped to deal with the complexed decisions they have to face.

  8. YUM YUM I like it! Avatar
    YUM YUM I like it!

    Anonymous

    Where do you consider that decency starts?

    Is it the liquid nature of the breast covering that you have a problem with?

    Body paint is actually solid once it dries.

    AND is as thick as a figure-hugging lycra top that a girl may use at gym. Is that girl indecent also??

    Would it be better if the girl was coated in small feathers or rice or….??

    Where exactly does your decency start?

    Is their behviour not more critical than their state of undress?

  9. YUM YUM I like it! Avatar
    YUM YUM I like it!

    “Now reading in the Nation of this use of naked women with body paint in other party events by the said Chetwyn Stuart – suggests to me a very sick,greedy man with a depraved mind – capable of using our vulnerable young women for his own selfish gain.” Anonymous.

    Have you attended any of these fetes?

    What evidence do you have that these young women are being used in any sort of sordid way?

    Chetwyn Stuart has to do what he thinks is fit to publicise his product, in much the same way as others like Banks etc. His imagery and costumes will be fashioned partly around the demand from his clientelle.

    To call the man sick greed and depraved without evidence is very poor form.

    Maybe ‘anonymous’ should join the Power X4 artistic team for 2008 if he/she is so concerned, or at least write to the man before putting him down in public.

    Positive criticism is far better than ‘witch-hunting’.

  10. David Avatar
    David

    You have asked some good questions and we don’t intend to answer them because we are not sure whether you or BU can do so conclusively. What we can comment on is the speed with which Barbados is absorbing cultural elements which are alien to Barbados. Body painting is a South American thing, clubs with naked bodies cavorting although existing in Nelson and Bay Street for years were always treated as taboo and outside of the majority of what the Barbadian society wanted.

    So the question which BU ask to our readership is whether the cultural changes which we are seeing in Barbados and manifested through this incident with Saskia and others is it the way we want to go.

  11. TheTrashHeap Avatar
    TheTrashHeap

    Hmmm, some of us are so hypocritical. I remember Rihanna wearing a bikini top and a jeans into Chefette causing an uproar, most of the people I saw condemning her, their own daughters dressed much worse going to the wet fetes annually. For a long time now PowerXfour have been on the edge when it comes to entertainment. It is not only them, but at Wadada fetes there is the same nonsense, Baje etc. Banks had calendars where you could have seen very clearly through the dress of their models the nipples of their breast. Why crucify Ms. Griffith for what she did? The only thing missing was a Banks bottle. I am glad she came out and give her side of her story rather than an apology because then I’d be disappointed.

    Bajans has accepted wukkin up and other types of edge entertainment and labeled it culture, so lets embrace this now as part of our culture.

  12. David Avatar
    David

    TheTrashHeap~we agree with you and that is why some Barbadians are starting to speak out, enough is enough. Sometimes it takes one incident like Saskia’s to galvanize public opinion. The key here is not to state what is but what we want to become.

  13. Big Mouth Avatar
    Big Mouth

    She said “it was in the spirit of Crop Over”. I’m so glad that I go to ALL the other band fetes and see girls, topless, sitting in a tacky rubber thing with chocolate all over their bodies. I think she should talk some more…. Can’t let that good reasoning go to waste.

  14. Wishing in Vain Avatar
    Wishing in Vain

    Stip clubs are the normal program here help by the head of the head of the local FBI
    August 17th, 2007 at 12:55 am
    Why complain about this when the former head of the local FBI a woman named Sue Chainer use to sleep with a guy named Jean and gave him a merecedes sports car for services rendered and set him up in the strip club business that now imports women from all over the world to provide services for clients in the central police station area poco something.
    Why worry about such minor stuff when the real painful stuff goes un noticed by the authorties like the police is it because of her connections that these things are allowed to ride sadly it seems this way power for glory.
    I agree with the person who posted this before it is quite an island we live on.

  15. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    David at BU …
    What is your policy on one person posting comments under several different names? Does it matter or not? Just curious.

  16. David Avatar
    David

    We don’t have a policy.
    We prefer to exercise discretion.
    We are aware of a few people who use several names but by and large it is not being done in any malicious way.
    We have one contributor who actually sends contributions via email and BU often will select a name which is appropriate for the topic.

    So to answer you question BU examine the content rather than who is the user.

  17. sungoddess Avatar
    sungoddess

    When this story broke, the first thing with the newspaper in my hand was that Banks was being hypocritical. And they were!

    I agree with Yum Yum, because like her/him I too have a son, and if he wants to spin naked on his head top in the middle of Broad St., if he’s older than 21, I will make a comment or two about his performance, but he can do what he wants.

    I am just tired to my bones of these Judeo-Christian Europeanised Protestant conservative rhetoric. Tired to my bones. This is a nation of people who are brainwashed!

    Barbados needs to grow up. Grow up! This is 2007 people! We’re almost a decade into a new millenium and you people are still quibbling over some rubbish.

    Yum Yum said:

    “… she made a poor decision in being involved in this ’show’. Not least because (as I have said previously) that the ’show’ was not well executed and most definitely was not ART! She SHOULD have been reprimanded but not sacked.”

    The show may not have been ‘art’ by one’s person’s standards, but you’re right she shouldn’t have been sacked.

    Nitwittage!

  18. TheWatcher Avatar
    TheWatcher

    I was about to light a fire under some posters but I think Sungoddess did a superlative job at it. Especially the hypocritical, and I quote: “Judeo-Christian Europeanised Protestant conservative…”
    We just don’t love ourselves. I am one who firmly believes that the whole “Judeo-Christian Europeanised Protestant conservative” view expounded by the lighter persuasion as being wholesome and good, especially when it is compared to what your fore-parents came out of Africa with( shall we say half-naked voodoo practitioners who no doubt were probably wukking-up too!) is nothing more than what it has been succesfull at for years. A brainwashing tool.
    But we are so inculcated with it now, that it has probably perforated the membranes of our cells and is now genetic!
    Saskia, you are an adult, and this introduction into adulthood is a rough one, but one which you will no doubt emerge from with a few light scratches. Say less about this issue to anyone. They can all speculate from here on in now that you have said your part.

    To Banks. Stop trying to be a moral compass in Barbadian society.The Banks “girl” over the years has gotten less and less clothed. You have evidently failed in your moral undertakings. So There!
    Want something to do? Concentrate on making better beer!

    To the society at large who would crucify this young lady.
    Take the BEAM(translation: large foreign object) out of your eye so that you can see cleary to remove the mote(translation: speck of dust) from hers!

  19. Reporter Avatar
    Reporter

    Here is what I do not understand when it comes to the hypocrisy of
    some Barbadians recently about morals, values etc.

    The very product that Banks beer produces creates more moral havoc in
    Barbados than the girl they suspended. Irresponsible drinking causes
    thousands of lives all over the world of every year including
    Barbados. And it does not stop at driving under the influence,David
    here is my response but marriages fail because of it, husbands and
    wives suffer spousal abuse, injury and death because of it, children
    suffer irreparable scars from parental abuse of alcohol. And all of
    this pales by comparison to seeing a healthy pair of breasts or the
    attractive body of a well endowed woman.

    Bare breasts can be seen in National Geographics and this has been
    true now for decades. Fashion shows both live and on TV all over the
    world have models showing loads of breasts, leg and bare buttocks.
    Rihanna videos are emulating sex in the coarsest way and no one sees
    anything wrong with it. They acclaim Rhianna as a National icon. Am I wrong?

    Barbadians need only go to most of their cultural events to see the
    vilest most sensual and sexually explicit shows. But what is one
    mans/womans poison is also another mans/womans food. Therefore who
    has the right to sit in judgment on them!

    From my perspective the world over is going down a very slippery
    slope of what is acceptable levels of morality and we are not going
    to stop it by isolating specific cases simply based on what a
    Corporate entity might think is not good for their image. We the
    people of the world have accepted the exploitation of women based on
    “sex” sells. And the majority of women advocate they have the right
    to make a living anyway they want to including dressing and acting
    lewdly, taking off their clothes and being sexually seductive in
    their videos if they want to. Many sun in or close to being nude on
    public beaches including Barbados.

    Therefore I say to the Barbadians sitting in judgment on the Banks
    lady had better reflect on the realities of the world today and come
    to the conclusion that they cannot emulate only the good things of
    other Nations. This is a situation of the saying “what monkey sees
    monkey does”!

    I do not want my daughters looking and acting like “sluts” but there
    comes a time I have no control over it and if that is their choice
    they are doing what the rest of the world says is their right to do!
    There is very little difference between this situation and the claim
    that everyone should have the right to free speech, even if it means
    calling people drunkards, crooks, dishonest etc without a shred of
    proof! We all now including the female pursuation have rights. And
    that is the war cry that supposedly will right all wrongs?

    A modern woman today will tell you that she has the right to dress as
    provocatively as she wishes and to wear the skimpiest of bikinis but
    that does not mean she is a whore or that men should use her dress
    code to hit on her and not show her the respect other women deserve! Amen!

  20. YUM YUM I like it! Avatar
    YUM YUM I like it!

    Sungoddess – well said.

    It is perceived in this society that the only way to have morals is to go to church. However, Barbadians are bright, well educated, intelligent people who can decide what is right and wrong without spoon-feeding with religion. I would defend any ones right to practice whatever religion they like, but I abhor the holier than thou attitude that some church-going christians have.

    It seems that it is passable for man to be seen emerging from a strip club on Friday, so long as he is seen on Sunday emerging from his church with his wife on his arm!

    On Sunday limes I’m often asked “Did you go to church this morning?” and for ages I thought this was just idle chat. I have grown to resent the question, as I am sure that my polite “No” is analysed more than I would wish. Personally I feel like saying “P*** off its none of you business”, or a curt “No, I don’t believe in God!” – just to wind them up. Personally I am undecided about religion and I try to read a lot and keep an open mind. I have no proof that there is a god, so at this point it would be easier to worship the sun, as I can see it!

  21. Radiance Avatar
    Radiance

    Yum Yum and Sungoddess didn’t answer the question of how you would feel if it was your daughter in the tub of chocolate. You both have sons, but apparently not daughters. From my observation many men and women accept the questionable behavior of their sons, but not of their daughters. They don’t mind if other people’s daughters are wild and wassy, but they wouldn’t want that for the females who are close to them. You did not even try to extrapolate (e.g., if it was my niece, my granddaughter, my godchild), so your comments make me wonder if this would be the case for you.

    Also, Yum Yum and Sungoddess, why wait until your sons are 21 to give them your blessings for whatever they choose to do? Won’t they be young adults some time before that age? You seem to be using arbitrary standards, like the people you criticize, for deciding what is acceptable behavior for whom. That’s hypocrisy too.

    Finally, Yum Yum, why are you thankful you don’t have a daughter? We are fantastic. Really.

  22. jinx Avatar
    jinx

    Dear Saskia,

    Had it been a male in the barrel, there would be no “situation” at all………just celebration…..
    Had you been somewhere in Europe or America there would be no “situation” at all ,just someone perhaps telling you how beautiful you are………….
    I am so tired of this pettiness …. you had a choice and you made it… it is over girl, move on from this as just another experience and remember ,
    Barbados is a different kettle of fish..

    Anyway, i sincerely wish you every success for the future ……

  23. Radiance Avatar
    Radiance

    Jinx,

    A male would not have been in the barrel.

    In America and Europe people would have divided opinions – just like in Bim. The reactions are not a peculiar to Barbados. In America and Europe people tell you how beautiful and sexy you are out of one corner of the mouth and laugh at you out of the other side.

    She made a choice. Banks made a choice too. She got her money and publicity. Banks got their money’s worth and publicity. Maybe it’s a win-win situation.

  24. Yum Yum I like it Avatar
    Yum Yum I like it

    Radiance

    Firstly the age of 21 was solely chosen for comparative purposes, as Saskia G. is 21 years old. Children are naturally handed the reins of adult hood at different ages acording to their personality etc. and you are right that this should not be an arbitrary number. I would hope that this would be WELL before 21 y.o.

    Secondly, I would try not to treat a daughter differently to a son. This would be difficult in practice though, because with girls the risks are higher i.e most sexual assaults are committed against females and boys can’t get pregnant. You are entirely right to point out that boys and girls actions are viewed differently by society (which IS wrong and hypocrital, but is reality) and in this way a daughter would have to be more careful. Take the scenario where a boy sleeps with two girls within a month, he is seen as being a stud, whereas a girl would be classified as a slut for the same actions!

    Thirdly, I agree that I used the word “thankfully” in a glib manner. As a father, I was thinking of the ‘daughter bringing home numerous unsuitable/loser boyfriends’ stage that would have to be lived through. I would naturally have been as delighted to have a daughter as I am to have a son.

    I hope this clarifies things.

    Jinx

    I agree with sentiments of your post, but have to disagree about the USA being any less puritanical than here.

    Remember to Janet Jackson episode where her breast popped out!

    That was ridiculous!

    A lot of the rubbish that is spouted comes from the USA not Europe.

  25. jinx Avatar
    jinx

    Yum Yum,

    Yes, i remember the Janet wardrobe malfunction, whether it was staged or not, we will never know but as an international celebrity the torch is forever highlighting every negative fragment of your life playing it out over and over until something “juicier” comes along……..
    Is this case really juicy??

    But i would love to see a male in a barrel……….

  26. Bajantease Avatar
    Bajantease

    There are people in 2007 who are disgusted (shame on them the perverts) at the sight of a female nursing her child in public. Yet this display is ok? As for the interview.. de girl say its not like she did it in December, but in de crop over spirit. that phrase mek no sense what so ever.

    Still I’m all for equal rights and justice
    The same way a man can walk down broad St. without a shirt on I believe so should a woman, its only fair. Women of Barbados I encourage you to standup, throw off your confining garments and exercise your rights.

    If anyone has a problem with that, then likely they have a problem with Saskia.

    As far as Banks goes.. from the shape of a drink bottle, to the girls on the car, the hint of sex sells, we people buy it. They are surely not the same; Honestly how many people are going to buy a product with a naked woman or man in the advert. not many, I’d bet most will be turned off, and not buy that car or rollon. Advertising can tread a very thin line at times, one their corporate image would not allow them to cross, certainly not the moral right of b’dos. The girl should have known better, a breach of common sense at that level is certainly a breach of contract. If she stated acting and smelling like ninja-man (the street character) would Banks keep her, I doubt.

  27. hellina Avatar
    hellina

    Dont care if she was fired, dont care if she fired them. Dont care about any of that. I understand that Skia was in the tub for fifteen minutes. So, this is what I care about.
    Suppose she wanted to pee in the 15 minutes?
    Suppose she had peed before she went in for the 15 minutes?
    Suppose she did not wipe properly after the pee?
    Suppose she farted within the fifteen minutes?
    And, suppose she had a stool before she went in and she as young as 21 did not wipe properly or it happened just before she dipped? Ah Ahhhhh!
    Just wondering about those suckers who dipped and dipped. So to me firing is nothing, cleanliness is the most important. To Chetwyn, maybe next time a more full figured woman with real breasts.
    To the rest of the readers: Maybe these ladies need to study first: For every action there is a reaction. Pictures were taken of this event, I was not there, and I study. Oh shoot, later maybe she will have children from a Cafe or from a Jungle, I dont know, I wonder what she will tell them about the photos. I just wonder, I not malicious or anything. I study a lot. Love you all.

  28. Spammer Avatar
    Spammer

    I wonder how the strip club backed by the FBI woman is doing ask Jean I suppose he would know!!!!

  29. de gap Avatar
    de gap

    Of Chocolate, sex, a fluent moral rectitude, and chick hate

    Ms Griffith has nothing to be ashamed of or apologize for. She’s an adult performing at a pX4 event for adults. Where is the moral indignation for the hardback men who splurge nuff Sir Grantley’s on this kind of entertainment? Where is the moral indignation for the diseased male prostitutes or “rent-a-dreds” who sleep with old white tourists and the governments who have encouraged this scourge in the name of the tourist product? Where is the moral indignation for the thousands of revelers who simulate doggy style sex every crop over? Gone are the days of a sweet wuk up. The aforementioned are the sluts not Ms Griffith.

  30. Ras Avatar
    Ras

    I believe that whenever a woman does anything people are more harsh. What does nudity have to do with sexual or any other kind of morality?I don’t like clothes and I would go naked if I could, does that make me a slut too? Does the size or amount of clothes a woman wears decide her morality? I’m sure some of you will be up in arms about my comments but I believe in truth. The young lady would have to have a very positive body image to appear in such a state of undress. There are girls who strip but do not sell their bodies and there are women who cover up in public but are highly priced prostitutes. We live in a hypocitical society where men’s immoral activity is excused away but women are subject to a higher moral standard. There are some countries where a girl sitting naked in chocolate would just be a girl sitting naked in chocolate but in Barbados a girl who sits naked in chocolate has to be a slut. The young lady was quite naive if she thought that Barbadians would allow her to live after she dared to do in public what they are only brave enough to hide and do.
    How many of you would go naked if it were socially acceptable? It might be more people than you think.

  31. allan Avatar
    allan

    I wanna eat that sweet bajan princess……..she is one very hot lady…….come to daddy lol

  32. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Did you all see that picture in the last Sunday Sun with chetwyn stuart (of the girls naked with chocalate in a tub fame) with that young woman next to him – wearing a see through net jumpsuit – with a patch of cloth over the hairy bank and the nipples?

    Did you see what she was wearing as she talked to conde riley who seemed not to know where to look?

    Chetwyn stuart strikes me as a corrupter of good morals,a purveyor of evil.He makes my skin crawl.

    No doubt she is probably one of his ‘business associates’.

    PIMP.

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