First came the finger. Yes, in 2013 a video of a lecture in Zagreb showed today’s Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, sticking up his middle finger to a metaphorical Germany, in its capacity as a major creditor, before he was elected as a radical leftist SYRIZA MP and FinMin.

First came the initial denial. On Sunday, March 15, Varoufakis told ARD talk show host Gunther Jauch that the video with his middle finger prominently erected had been “doctored”.

Then came the backlash. Alessandro Del Prete, the person who uploaded the 6-minute video showing Varoufakis’ flipping off “creditor” Germany said the clip was authentic. Digital media experts scoured over the video looking at the subtlety of the shades, lighting etc. The German press had a field day shaming the flamboyant “loud-shirt-wearing” Yanis.

Then came the second denial. On Tuesday, March 17, the self-described “erratic Marxist” tweeted the entire video to show how his finger gesture had been taken out of context. The part uploaded by Del Prete was unchanged, however, in the entire video it could be seen that Varoufakis was merely suggesting an option and not sticking the middle finger per se. Semantics!

Then came the confession. German TV presenter Jan Bohermann, host of “Neo magazin Royale”, confessed to have faked the video. He detailed how it had been “doctored” to show the subtle shadows that would make it more realistic.

Then came the request for an apology. Varoufakis’ finger made its way to giving him an upper hand. He tweeted a request for an apology.

Then came the apology. For a few minutes, Bild uploaded an apology to Varoufakis.

Then came the realization. The doctored video was exactly the same as the original!!! Bild’s apology quickly taken off the internet…

Will the saga continue or will someone remind politicians and “media types” alike that the Greek economy must overcome recession and grow!