Page 12 - aruba-today-20220120

a12 people & arts
Thursday 20 January 2022

"The Voice of Holland" talent show hit

by #MeToo scandal

AMSTERDAM (AP) — The show's panelists, Dutch rap- women involved in the pro-
Dutch talent show "The per Ali Bouali. His lawyer, gram and exchanged sex-
Voice of Holland" has been Bart Swier, said Wednesday ually tinted WhatsApp mes-
taken off the air in the that the artist known as Ali sages," he said in a state-
Netherlands amid a sexual B denies any wrongdoing. ment to the RTL Boulevard
misconduct scandal that Swier declined to comment entertainment news show.
has cast a shadow over further. The complaints, Rietbergen went on to say
the future of the TV ratings which Swier said were filed that after initially consider-
juggernaut in the country Jan. 11 and on Tuesday, will ing the sexual encounters
where it was first conceived trigger investigations to es- "as reciprocal and equal,"
by a media mogul. tablish whether Ali B should he later came to under-
The furor is one of the most face any criminal charges. stand that the women
serious #MeToo reckonings Even Prime Minister Mark "may have experienced
yet to hit the Dutch enter- Rutte has weighed in on this very differently. This in-
tainment world and focus- the scandal swirling around sight has made me realize
es on a show created in the one of the Netherlands' that my behavior has been
Netherlands but broadcast most popular TV shows. completely wrong."
in local versions around the "I think everybody is very His statement also suggest-
globe. shocked and it's good ed the show's producers
It also draws in a family that it is investigated," he had known about his ac-
considered television roy- told the Dutch daily De tions and cautioned him in
alty in the Netherlands — Telegraaf. the past. Rietbergen's law-
the original creator John Dutch broadcaster RTL, yer didn't immediately re-
de Mol and his sister Linda, which airs "The Voice of spond to a call and email
a television star in her own Holland," reacted swiftly to seeking comment.
right in the Netherlands and the reports, saying over the Rietbergen's partner, Linda
Germany who last week- weekend that it was sus- de Mol, said in a statement
end split from "The Voice of pending the show. It called on her website that she split
Holland's" pianist and band the allegations "very seri- from Rietbergen after the
leader after he admitted ous and shocking" and said scandal broke and was
having sexual contacts they weren't known to RTL. taking a break from her
with some contestants. Dutch media reported own television career.
The Dutch scandal erupted Wednesday that RTL had RTL said it contacted the
after a local broadcast- suspended its ties with Ali show's producer ITV Studios,
er's YouTube show called B as a result of the com- which agreed to "immedi-
"BOOS" — the Dutch word plaints. The network did not ately initiate a diligent, in-
for angry — contacted immediately respond to a dependent investigation."
"The Voice of Holland" to request for comment. The Dutch broadcaster
say it has spoken to victims The show's pianist and band said that "Participants, em-
of "sexually transgressive leader, Jeroen Rietbergen, ployees, everyone must be
behavior" on the show and quit over the weekend and able to work in complete
is planning to broadcast a issued a statement ac- safety. There is no room for
program about their alle- knowledging his actions. interpretation in this. The
gations on Thursday. "During my years of involve- priority now is to get the
Prosecutors have received ment with "The Voice of facts on the table."
two complaints in recent Holland," I had contact of ITV Studios said: "Our high-
days against one of the a sexual nature with some est priority is to provide a
safe and supportive envi-
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tion. Dutch singer Anouk
said she was quitting as
one of the show's panel-
ists, who first get to know
contestants by listening to
them "blind" from a swivel-
ing chair facing away from
the stage before going on
to mentor them.q