Presenter and comedian Adriaan Van den Hoof apologizes on Friday in a written statement to people he has hurt by his behavior. He denies that he used physical violence against women. According to Van den Hoof, a number of ‘false accusations’ come from a woman who had attacked him before.
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“The allegations made in the media over the past two weeks hit me particularly hard and have disrupted and hurt me and those close to me,” Van den Hoof, 49, began his statement.
“I am not a role model or example when it comes to relationships,” the presenter writes. Van den Hoof says he realizes that he has unintentionally hurt people with his behavior in his private life – including infidelity – and apologizes for that. “I wish to apologize to the women, as well as to the friends and loved ones who have been hurt by my behaviour. I am aware of my shortcomings as a person and do my best to work on them.’
‘Never questioned about harassment’
But Van den Hoof strongly denies the allegations of physical violence against women. “Those allegations are false.” There were complaints, but they were dismissed after an investigation. And as for reports of harassment or electronic nuisance, he says: “To my knowledge I have never been questioned about them and I would not know what they relate to.”
Van den Hoof says he knows where the stories come from, in particular of a woman ‘who called me up to 300 times a day and kept sending me hundreds of texts’ in 2020. ‘I recognize her style in the statements now quoted as one of the anonymous sources. She’s started again.’
‘This will not remain without consequences’
The presenter and comedian does not intend to stop there, he says. “This will not be without consequences for her, nor for the journalists who published her made-up stories,” he writes. ‘Publications like this, which falsely accuse me of things I take seriously as a person, affect me and my immediate environment deeply. I expressly distance myself from this.’
According to The morning Van den Hoof would consider taking legal action against the woman. But also against Hey everyonebecause the woman testified in the weekly. Hey everyone has so far not received a formal complaint, deputy editor Stefan Voet said.
‘I focus on the projects that are yet to come and on my relationship, which now offers me peace’, says Van den Hoof. He plans to resume his theater show from September. An exhibition with drawings and paintings is planned for the spring of 2023.
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