BNNVARA tried “various ways” to get in touch with Van Nieuwkerk, but it didn’t work. The broadcaster wanted to go to the recordings on the last Friday Top 2000studio, but according to the presenter’s manager it was not necessary.
The spokesperson says a presenter is “free to discuss a personal statement with whoever he wants”.
On Saturday, the public broadcaster confirmed that NPO President Frederieke Leeflang and NPO Director Frans Klein had briefed Van Nieuwkerk on the statement. They had done it that same Friday during a meeting on the recording of Best quizzes 2000.
Van Nieuwkerk said in the conversation that he was “very sorry”. Leeflang and Klein did not read that in the statement. They then advised him to include that point in it.
Little did the two know that a new statement would eventually come. It’s also unclear whether Van Nieuwkerk changed his statement in response to the conversation.
The Volkskrant reported last week that Van Nieuwkerk has sent several statements in response to reports of cross-border behavior to DDD. She initially expressed no regrets, which was against BNNVARA’s sore leg.
The broadcaster later said it doubted his sincerity. This was the reason why Van Nieuwkerk broke ties with BNNVARA.
