New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern said she was misled by the writers of a new biography of her, Jacinda Ardern: Leading with Empathy. Ardern said she agreed to be interviewed by Supriya Vani—coauthor of the book with Carl A. Harte—because Vani said she was writing a book about the leadership styles of prominent women in politics. There was no mention of a biography with Ardern as the sole subject. The prime minister told reporters, “I generally have a bit of a policy of not really engaging in any efforts to write anything specifically of that nature—about me.” The book’s promotion notes that it’s based on Vani’s “exclusive interviews” with Ardern, a point Ardern would like clarified so as not to imply that she did the interviews thinking the book was a biography of her.

In response to Ardern’s concerns, coauthor Harte gave a statement to The Guardian. He said, in part, “Prime Minister Ardern was . . . not misled, because at the time of the interview, we had no intention of writing a biography on her alone.” He said that the decision to switch from profiles of about 10 leaders to an Ardern biography came after the COVID-19 pandemic struck, limiting interviews with other leaders. Harte added that Ardern’s response to the pandemic “deserved a book in itself, for her model leadership.” Harte also said that Ardern’s office knew before the biography’s publication that the focus of the book had changed. “We regret the misunderstanding,” Harte said. “We stand by our book.”