Recommendations of the Editorial team
A Hamburg court has rejected Christian Ulmen’s lawsuit against an article in “Spiegel”. Reporting on digital violence and allegations of abuse by ex-wife Collien Fernandes is mostly legal. The court only ordered an injunction in one detail related to the procedural details of an investigation against the actor in Spain.
This is a setback for Christian Ulmen’s defense. Through his lawyer Christian Schertz, the 50-year-old rejected the suspicious reporting as essentially false and sued the Hamburg magazine. The text also mentions, among other things, sexualized deepfake images that the actor is said to have passed on. This was exactly the point his defense attorney had attacked. The district court in Hamburg has now ruled that it is permissible to spread the suspicion that Ulmen had created and distributed such videos of his ex-wife.
In March 2026, “Spiegel” opened with the title “You virtually raped me” and revealed that Collien Fernandes had reported her ex-husband in Spain. She accused him of creating fake profiles of himself on social media and of communicating with numerous men on her behalf through these accounts. According to her statement, there were also sexual interactions, some of which were accompanied by the passing on of corresponding images and videos. According to the court ruling, there is also no objection to the fact that “Spiegel” reported on Fernandes’ allegations that she had been physically attacked by Ulmen.
What can be reported about Christian Ulmen
The court in Hamburg made it clear that “Spiegel’s” reporting was based on sufficiently verifiable facts. At the same time, the judges proved that the evidence presented by the moderator was credible.
Christian Ulmen was not right in almost all points of the lawsuit against the news magazine. The actor not only denied having created deepfake videos, but also sued against allegations that he had been physically abusive and had prevented Fernandes from leaving their shared apartment during a violent incident in Mallorca in 2023.
The “Jerks” star remains under investigation. The proceedings are now with the Potsdam public prosecutor’s office. The Hamburg Regional Court’s ruling only deals with the accusation of whether and how elms can be reported on. The actual allegations would only be clarified in a separate procedure. However, for this to happen, charges must first be brought. An investigation is currently underway. The presumption of innocence still applies.
