In leaked emails obtained by Expressen, Brandberg's staff members requested that bananas be removed from the premises prior to the minister's visits, citing her extreme fear as a "strong allergy."
"Paulina Brandberg has a strong allergy to bananas, so it would be appreciated that there are no bananas in the areas where she will be staying," a staffer wrote in an email sent to the Norwegian Judicial Agency ahead of a VIP lunch.
When reached for comment on Wednesday, the gender equality minister told the paper: "It's sort of an allergy, you could say. It's something that I get professional help with."
Several posts on X in 2020, in which the minister herself confessed to having a phobia of bananas, appear to have been deleted after the news broke this week. On Sept. 11, 2020, Brandberg issued a post stating, "I have a phobia of bananas." She called it the "world's craziest phobia" in another post on Aug. 6, 2020, as reported by PoliticoEU.
Additional emails from Brandberg's staff doubled down on the demand that no bananas were to be in any room the minister would be in. Staffers sent an email to a county administrative board that stated "No bananas are allowed on the premises." Another email sent as an advance warning to Swedish Parliament Speaker Andrea Norlen indicated that he must impose a regulation that includes "no traces of bananas" in the spaces where Brandberg will be meeting, according to leaked emails.
