Jan Slagter, the boss of hit broadcaster MAX, thinks the Meilandjes work very cheaply. If they really care about people in poverty, then they should give up their wages, he says.
The Meilandjes have been under fire for over a week now because of their new TV program Chateau Bijstand, in which they make entertainment out of a life on welfare. It is very bad for many people and Jan Slagter also finds it objectionable. With his wholesaler of ratings hits, he is one of the most important people in Hilversum.
Surprised faces
The fuss about Chateau Bijstand was discussed yesterday in the talk show of Eva Jinek. She showed the bizarre fragment in which the Meilandjes are introduced to their temporary terraced house. An ordinary terraced house in which most Dutch people live. “Oh how small it is”, screams Martien. And Erica: “Yeah, but that’s how the houses were then.”
A completely normal family home is portrayed by Erica as a kind of spartan shelter from the Jan Steen era. After the fragment, it is dead quiet in Jinek’s studio. Hostess Eva: “I am harvesting who has the most surprised face, the most disapproving was nodding no.”
Jan Slagter goes wild
Skater Kjeld Nuis: “I think many students with a house like this think: oh, great, quite spacious!”
AD diva Angela de Jong: “And many AD editors too.”
Then Jan Slagter goes wild: “I think this is a bad play. The fact that he shouts, ‘Oh how small, oh how small!’ Yes, where are you from? Those people have also lived in such a house before. That’s a beautiful house. The fact that they are now rich and have earned a lot, I commend them wholeheartedly, but this is for people who really have to get by on very little money… They are being ridiculed a bit.”
give gage
Jan finds it inappropriate if the Meilandjes cash in on the backs of people in poverty. “I really hope, and I appeal to the Meilandjes, that if they get money for this and if they want to be credible for all of us and take this subject seriously, they will hand over their wages to the Food Bank.”
Otherwise, according to Jan, they are not worth a cut. “These people have plenty of money, but if they also get a hundred thousand each for participating in this program, it is an even bigger and more unbelievable story. (…) I think this is a very cheap way to make a mess of poverty. Poverty is fun!”
Angela: “They are going to try to raise money for another charity.”
Jan: “Yes, but if you earn money from this yourself, I don’t think that’s a fair story.”
Dragon
A better program on poverty is ‘Guilty’, Jan thinks. And Kjeld points to ‘Steenrijk Straatarm’, also from SBS 6. The skater: “Then people don’t make fun of what kind of small kitchen they have, right?”
Jan: “Know where you come from! They have lived in such a house! Things didn’t always go so well for the Meilandjes. Everyone is happy with such a house. You should be grateful for that. If you come in and say: ‘It’s small, they don’t even have a fridge and those stairs are dirty!’, you make fun of that and I really don’t think that’s possible.”
Kjeld: “I think so too.”
