These days a small storm is raging over the Netherlands. Not a physical storm, but a metaphorical one following a report on abuses in the long-running and much-watched TV program 'The Voice'.
The Voice of Holland, also known as TVOH, is a Dutch reality television competition, created by John de Mol and Roel van Velzen, airing on Dutch tv channel RTL 4. Later on the format was adopted in various other countries, among others the USA, UK, Canada, China, Germany etc.
According to the English wiki about The Voice:
On January 15, 2022, broadcaster RTL suddenly announced [1] that the latest season of The Voice of Holland would be put on hold indefinitely after the second episode. Journalist Tim Hofman had informed them of several allegations of abuse of power and sexual misconduct by crew members of The Voice. As a result, broadcaster RTL and production company ITV (before: Talpa Network) decided to start an investigation into the allegations before continuing the current season.
Soon after RTL’s announcement, band leader of The Voice of Holland, Jeroen Rietbergen (brother in law of media tycoon and creator John de Mol), issued a statement. In the statement, he admits to years of sexual misbehaviour. According to newspaper AD, he would promise contestants that he would make sure they’d advance to the next round in exchange for sexual activities. Producer Talpa Network knew about his sexual misbehaviour years ago, reprimanded him, but let him stay on as bandleader of the show.[2]
Later that afternoon, Dutch police confirmed that a victim had filed an official report against Ali B. The rapper has been a coach on The Voice for nine seasons. He however denied all allegations on his Instagram account.[3]
On January 19, 2022, right after the news that a second victim had filed an official report against Ali B, broadcaster RTL announced they would suspend collaboration with him untill there is more information about the allegations. The Dutch police also announced that another victim came forward and filed an official report against Jeroen Rietbergen.[4]
Tim Hofman and BNN-VARA, his broadcaster, have announced that more crew members would be mentioned in his YouTube program BOOS.[5] The news has sparked a heated debate in the country over the abuse of power by people in the entertainment industry, especially as there already have been several cases of claims of sexual misconduct by singer Marco Borsato.[6] Borsato was a judge on The Voice from 2011 until 2016. Claims against him also include underage victims.
Anouk: “It’s a corrupt mess”
Anouk, who represented The Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, was the last of the coaches and hosts to comment on the matter. In her video, she says she wanted to wait until she had seen the #BOOS episode. However, she has now made up her mind after reading the Jeroen Rietbergen statement, as well as several telephone calls. She will not be returning to the show.[7]
Following the allegations, head sponsors T-Mobile[ 8 ] and Lidl have decided to stop supporting the show as wel as other sponsors. BOOS, which will feature the allegations, will air on YouTube Thursday January 20, 2022.
Broadcaster, RTL 4 announced that they suspended their ties with Ali B.
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