Veronica Inside started again on Friday evening, a month and a half after the much-discussed racism broadcast of the program. Johan Derksen immediately hits Wilfred Genee hard in the first episode of the new season. “I’m not angry, but I thought you as a presenter raped and betrayed the format.”
The return of the program was uncertain for a long time, after René van der Gijp and Derksen did not want to return because of dissatisfaction with Genee’s performance. He was critical of Derksen in the theme broadcast about racism and that went down the wrong way with the analysts.
Derksen looks back at the media release in Friday’s broadcast and lashes out at advertisers who left after the commotion. “We are being terrorized by the cancel (culture, ed.) Hype in the Netherlands. If you say something on TV, you immediately get a label. I have been homophobic, racist, the craziest things. Then types like Arie Boomsma and Sunny Bergman approach advertisers like: you shouldn’t advertise with that program. “
Derksen says he thinks it is “terrible” to see that some advertisers have responded to this.
Harsh words for Genee
Genee also gets a lot from Derksen. “That you as a presenter went that opposing party pleasen, I took that as a kind of betrayal. We give our opinion and shit the world. I am not angry, but I thought that you as a presenter raped and betrayed the format. “Genee nuances those statements.” It was not my strongest broadcast, but there is more to it than is currently outlined. “
Especially the fact that Derksen had to sit at the table with Dries Boussatta and Natacha Harlequin during the racism broadcast, went wrong with him. “I thought it was sheer nonsense that I was confronted with Dries Boussatta and that black lady (Natacha Harlequin, ed.) Who now has a program that no dog watches (Dit Vindt Nederland, ed.). What opposed me is that those two had to sit at the table. They couldn’t separate, because that was discriminatory. “
Uphold over joke Akwasi
The commotion about Veronica Inside arose after Derksen made a joke about rapper Akwasi. Seeing a picture of a Black Pete during an anti-racism demonstration, he joked: “Are we sure it’s not Akwasi?” That comment sparked outrage on social media and an action calling on advertisers to stop advertising with the program. Zespri, Albert Heijn and Gillette, among others, responded to this at the time. Albert Heijn came back to that this week, however Distrifood.
Derksen had little good to say about Akwasi in the broadcast. Friday morning it was announced that the rapper is not prosecuted for his inflammatory statements about Zwarte Piet on the Dam, after he apologized for it. “That is of course hypocritical, then at least stick to your statements. I will,” says the 71-year-old.
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