Valtteri Bottas’ butt calendar has already raised 150,000 €
Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas claims that the sales of his nude calendar have raised over €150,000 for the male health charity Movember. This organization works towards raising awareness for prostate cancer and men's mental health.
Bottas admitted that his mother was initially perplexed by his decision to strip down until she was assured that the goal was to raise funds for a charitable cause, specifically for prostate cancer research.
The calendar is the result of the interest generated by Bottas’ sold-out prints last year and was created by photographer Paul Ripke. A first run of 10,000 copies quickly sold out via www.bottass.com, so additional copies were printed.
Bottas expressed himself on social media today to talk about the success of the project:
The last day of @Movember ✔️
Thank you so much for all the support in November. With the donations and with the calendars we have together raised a substantial amount for @Movember – meaning WE have really helped and will effect and save many people’s lives 🙏
Final figures to… pic.twitter.com/oXCs2Qm1ly
— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) November 30, 2023
« Thank you very much for all your support in November, » he wrote. « Thanks to the donations and calendars, we have together raised a substantial amount for Movember – which means that WE have truly helped and will impact and save the lives of many people.»
« The final figures will be calculated in the next few days, but we are talking about approximately $150,000 of funds raised!»
Explaining how the calendar project was born, he added, « Last year, when I released this photo in Aspen, it became very popular ».
« And we actually raised quite a bit of money. Because I do a lot of things with Ripke, he’s a good friend, the photographer, and then we started joking about the idea, “Imagine if there’s a complete calendar”. […] And then, as November approached, the month of Movember, we started thinking that it was something we could do, something really, really good ».
« And we decided that yes, let’s do it, but for charity. It’s mainly for prostate cancer research, so I think it’s for a good cause ». Expanding on this choice, he stated: « Movember focuses a lot on that. I know people who have had relatives affected by issues like this ».
« And I think that with men as well, like Movember, who focus on their health, many people are really afraid to talk about these kinds of things. And I gave it my all, by showing myself, by trying to be an example. As a human body, you don’t need to be shy. »
Asked about the reaction of his friends and family, the Finnish person admitted that he had to convince his mother that it was a valid exercise.
« Well, I received a message from my mom, » he explains. It was something like, « What is this?” She doesn’t really understand English very well either, and she saw some of the videos I posted, and she was quite confused and protective. It was like, “Are you sure this is the path you want to take?”. »
« So I explained the charity thing, and everything is okay. I had some questions, people were asking me: “Why did you do that?”, “Why do you want to show your ass?” But then, I explained the charitable aspect and people understood. And we had so much fun, you can imagine, doing that, taking these photos. »
« We had this art gallery on Monday in Las Vegas, and the people who came had no idea what was going to happen. And they were so confused when we started showing each print, step by step, that they were wondering, “What’s happening here?” but then, they sort of got the idea that, okay, it was funny and for charity. It was a lot of fun ».
