John de Mol continued to insist in the BOOS broadcast that he knew nothing about sexually transgressive behavior at The Voice, except for one report to Jeroen Rietbergen. According to lawyers, he may have a good reason for that.
Media lawyer Sander Dikhoff in the Volkskrant: ”I think John de Mol has a strong motive for saying that he knew nothing about it. Because if he did know this, then he knowingly accepted the risk that this would continue. That could lead to claims not only from participants, but also from ITV, the lawyer said. Ultimately, with the purchase of Talpa Media, and with it the rights of The Voice, after all, bought a pig in a poke.”
It also helps that he only spoke about one report. “The ‘blame’ can also lie in the fact that as a company you have created an atmosphere in which people apparently do not dare to report after transgressive behaviour,” says the lawyer. “A company can never prevent one person from doing something strange. Crazy people are everywhere. But the frequency seems so high with four accused that you can say that it has been incorporated into the production. Then you can no longer get away with the claim that Rietbergen is a solitary freak. Or Ali B.”
In the end, Dikhoff does not expect ITV or Talpa to let it come to a lawsuit. “Suppose there is a claim of a manageable amount, then I do not think that there will soon be a lawyer in the courtroom who says: yes, Marco has touched your butt, but the contract states that we are not liable for this. This will soon be arranged behind the scenes, and there will be a confidentiality clause on that.”
