Ever if it has been almost one year since America was ordered to work from home, people are still having problems using online platforms such as Zoom. This confusion has lead to some humorous gaffes on Zoom such as shirtless men interrupting news reports and pets distracting viewers during weather forecasts. However, none are as bizarre as the incident that occurred in Braganca, Brazil during a Council meeting.

The Braganca Paulista Town Council in Brazil was hosting an online meeting about cutting down trees in the areas to create more space. The meeting got especially interesting when Council member and Brazilian politician Ditinho do Asilo was seen holding a pair of red women’s underwear to his nose and moving them around. Over 20 other member Council members needed to pause the meeting to ask Asilo about his actions.

Asilo attempts to defend his stance: “I got the underwear as a joke gift. I had thought I turned off both my camera and my microphone before opening it, but I accidentally only turned off my mic. It was a misfortune of my lack of practice with this technology. I wore a pink shirt and, as a joke, a friend sent me those knickers. It was an edible item from one of those sex shops. That’s why I sniffed it. I have a family. It was just a joke that, because of my naivety, became public”.

Asilo had also apologized to fellow councilperson Fabiana Alessandre who was speaking during Asilo’s ridiculous gaffe. “I agree that it wasn’t the appropriate moment to do this”, Asilo adds, “But I wasn’t speaking, I was following the agenda. When a councilor is at home, they can be caught doing anything when they join a session and that’s what happened to me. I was caught”.

The council continues to investigate the incident and are undecided if they will take further action. Still, we can’t deny how unexpected and discourteous it is to disrupt the entire meeting to sniff underwear, regardless of whether or not it was intentional.