Iceland’s President Admits He Went ‘too Far’ With Threat To Ban Pineapple Pizza
Gudni Johannesson reflects on 2017 topping scandal that divided the internet and drew a rebuke from Canada.
Nearly two years after the president of Iceland drew Canada’s ire with his disparaging comments about pineapple pizza, Gudni Johannesson says he regrets his off-the-cuff remarks.
During a visit to a local high school in February 2017, Johannesson responded to a student’s question about pizza by saying he was fundamentally opposed to the fruit topping and that he would like to ban it.
The comment sparked international debate about the so-called Hawaiian pizza, the invention of southern Ontario restaurateur Sam Panopoulos, who died in June 2017 at the age of 82.
“That’s where the influence of this office sort of, yeah, got the better of me,” Johannesson told As It Happens host Carol Off during an interview for the show’s 50th anniversary, in which he reflected on the divisive saga. “I went a step too far.”
