At the “Jungle Camp” aftermath, Jan Köppen confronted Gil Ofarim with his acquittal statement.
“I’m a star – get me out of here” 2026 will be history. This year’s jungle camp was probably one of the most hotly debated since the show aired on RTL. This was due to Gil Ofarim’s participation and winning. The musician fell from grace in 2021 because he accused hotel employee Markus W. of anti-Semitism, which subsequently turned out to be false. The case also caused a lot of talk in the jungle, and opinions about Gil Ofarim’s credibility vary.
Confrontation in the big “jungle aftermath”
One person had not yet commented on Gil Ofarim’s appearance in the jungle: “I’m a star – get me out of here” presenter Jan Köppen has so far remained silent on all discussions about the new jungle king. On Sunday, February 22, 2026, the big “episode” to this year’s “Jungle Camp” finale traditionally took place. Here all the campers and the moderators come together again to discuss the season. In the past it was not uncommon for this meeting to be full of controversy and arguments.
Jan Köppen now used the live broadcast to address Gil Ofarim directly and confront him. The moderator was primarily concerned with a sentence that the king of the jungle made to Simone Ballack during the two weeks of the show. The singer said: “I’m not convicted. I don’t have a criminal record. I’m acquitted.” This choice of words seemed to bother Jan Köppen, and so he demanded answers from Gil Ofarim.
Jan Köppen wanted answers
The moderator made it clear that he could not correctly classify certain of the musician’s statements and therefore asked: “What I remember above all is that you repeatedly gave hints that you said that you were acquitted, which you were not.” Jan Köppen received applause from the audience because he is right. Gil Ofarim was not convicted, but he was not acquitted either. The proceedings were only settled due to an agreement on a payment of 20,000 euros.
In addition, the father of the family repeatedly spoke during the broadcast of a “duty of confidentiality”, which, however, did not exist in this form. Jan Köppen also addressed this: “I would argue that you know, in the legal sense – you had to deal with it for two years – what that means, right?” The singer then finally admitted: “It was an unfortunate choice of words, I admit that.” He referred to tiredness, hunger and exhaustion in the camp.
However, Jan Köppen wasn’t finished yet and asked directly: “Did you want to sow doubt about what happened?” The jungle winner denied this. He said, “I wasn’t trying to turn anything around or seed anything.”
The moderator simply replied: “But it seemed that way.” He then used the moment to convey another message: “This is my view of it: This publicity brings with it a great responsibility. It also brings with it a power, and in this case there is a huge power imbalance.”
Gil Ofarim insisted he had not tried to “flip” anything.
Why now, Jan Köppen?
Many wondered why the RTL host now commented on the debate surrounding Gil Ofarim. He recently provided an explanation about this via Instagram. He withdrew from the public eye, especially towards the end of the “jungle camp” in 2026, due to the hustle and bustle, and also took a break from social media. “To be honest, the whole thing was just too much for me,” he said in an Instagram video.
Jan Köppen further explained: “It was all too loud for me and I had the feeling that my Instagram wouldn’t have been a place where I would have felt comfortable. That was actually the main reason.”
In particular, some reactions online simply went too far. In principle, he is always open to criticism, but in this case he just asked himself: “I thought to myself, what is wrong with people?” What he read was “far from criticism and just yelling.” So he took a break from public life: “I just didn’t feel like it.”
