Popular lifestyle magazine FHM has distanced itself from Sabina Essa, the model and law student who caused a new furore through an ill-advised Twitter message. Its editor, Brendan Cooper, said that Essa was simply a member of Modelbook, its social network service for amateur and professional models.

“Those who think they are worthy of being a model can showcase their pictures and information,” he was quoted in local reports. “However, FHM doesn’t endorse any of these models or claim that they are FHM models.”

This is in contrast to Jessica Leandra dos Santos, 2011’s Modelbook Model of the year, who earlier this month sent out a racist tweet. The magazine had moved swiftly to strip her of the title. But it does not regard Essa as an FHM model, as had been reported in various news sources – including Zalebs – yesterday.

“To qualify as a FHM model, the lady would have to appear in the actual magazine in order to earn that prestigious reputation.”

Essa has claimed the Twitter message, about bribing her way out of a traffic fine, was fabricated and a way to attract attention.

By James Francis