Man seen walking on a leash was a 'theatrical project,' woman explains
Twitter/Fifi Haroon

Last Friday, the internet was gripped by a photo of a woman walking a man on a leash in London. Speculation about the incident's purpose swirled as the hashtag #manonleash exploded on Twitter. Some thought it was an erotic experiment, while others said it might be an elaborate PR prank.
Turns out, it was for a theatrical project.
The woman in the picture, Eden Avital Alexander, is an actress and told the London Evening-Standard that the intent of the stunt was to capture onlookers' reactions to a man being walked on a leash in public. To record the scene, a hidden camera was placed in a tissue box by a woman walking beside the pair.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"It was not a BDSM or a PR stunt; the project seemed at the start like a funny thing to be a part of and was all about the audience, which for me I think is the most important part of acting," she said. Read the rest of the interview at the London Evening-Standard. -- Jordan Valinsky

Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.