(Motorsport-Total.com) – It has been ten years since Michael Schumacher fell while skiing in Méribel on December 29, 2013. Since then, his private life has been consistently protected by the family. In June 2014, Schumacher’s media advisor Sabine Kehm announced that the seven-time Formula One world champion had woken up from a coma, and in September 2014, Schumacher’s care was transferred from the hospital in Lausanne to his home. But since then the family has remained silent about his health.
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Corinna and Michael Schumacher at an event before the skiing accident in 2013 Zoom Download
Felix Damm, who represents the Schumacher family in media law matters as a lawyer, has in one Interview with the specialist portal Legal Tribune Online spoke publicly for the first time about the reasons for this silence. One motive stands above all else: “It was always about protecting private matters,” says Damm.
“Of course we discussed a lot about how this is possible. So we also considered whether a final report about Michael’s state of health could be the right way to do this. But after that it wouldn’t have been over and it would have been permanent updated water level reports must be made,” fears the lawyer.
It is an argument that Sabine Kehm has repeatedly explained in informal conversations with journalists: Even if the family were to report in detail about Schumacher’s state of health, that would probably not end interest in the topic all at once, but would lead to ever new questions and, more worse, lead to dubious speculation.
What the Schumacher family had to endure
It is understandable that the family is sensitive to this issue. In the past, there have been bizarre incidents with journalists who tried to sneak into the hospital in Grenoble in disguise, or with tabloid newspapers that sometimes made up headline-grabbing stories.
Damm says: “I was amazed at how much media reports, even though there is no reliable information, and how much you can knit supposed stories out of zero information. As a result, it has gone so far that the current one simply invented an AI-generated interview and put it on the front page.”
Funke media group involved in scandals several times
It was perhaps the darkest hour of German tabloid journalism, as the tabloid newspaper the actual published an alleged interview with Michael Schumacher in April 2023. The answers were provided by an AI (artificial intelligence) that was commissioned to answer the questions the way Michael Schumacher would probably do. The affair cost editor-in-chief Anne Hoffmann her job and caused quite a stir.
Incidentally, it was not the first time that the Funke media group’s magazine attracted attention in the Schumacher case. Already had years before the actual put the sentence “He is no longer with us” next to a photo of Schumacher on the front page.
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This, explains Damm, “created the tasteless impression that Michael Schumacher had died. The publisher had to pay 100,000 euros for this sentence. I am not aware of any case where a higher monetary compensation had to be paid for the publication of a sentence,” he says Lawyer.
Damm can “of course” understand that many Schumacher fans want to know how their hero is doing. But: “I also believe that the vast majority of fans can deal with it well and also respect the fact that the accident has set in motion a process in which private shelter is necessary and will now continue to be observed.”
“Final message” would not end interest
He doesn’t believe that a comprehensive update on Schumacher’s health would suddenly end media coverage, especially in the German tabloids. Because: “As a person affected, it is not up to you to put an end to the media,” argues Damm.
“They could always pick up on such a report and ask: ‘And what does it look like now?’ One, two, three months or years after the announcement. And if we then wanted to take action against this reporting, we would have to deal with the argument of voluntary self-disclosure,” explains the lawyer.
The so-called voluntary self-disclosure is probably one of the main reasons why the Schumacher family continues to remain silent. Because as soon as she herself reveals information about Michael Schumacher’s state of health, this could limit the legal options to prevent unwanted reporting about it.
2023-12-29 07:18:05
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