Linda de Mol causes quite a bit of irritation with her media attitude. The fallen TV queen is behaving like a weakling, says TV critic Rob Goossens. “She bends down eagerly for a downy feather!”
It remains doubtful: Linda de Mol was aware of Ali B’s misconduct at an early stage, but did far too little about it behind the scenes. Naomi, one of his victims, has now spoken up for Linda in a TV interview on RTL Tonight. She confirms that she had asked Linda to keep quiet about her brother John de Mol.
Irritation about Linda
At the time, John was producer of The Voice of Holland, in which Ali was a coach. According to critics, Linda could have confidentially warned him that there were serious issues surrounding Ali, without revealing Naomi’s name or details of her experiences. Why should she have done that? Logical: to prevent possible new victims.
What adds to the irritation is that Linda has been avoiding any form of accountability for this for years. She avoids interviews and gives no explanation. Now that Naomi is publicly defending her, Linda suddenly expresses her gratitude extensively. So she does make herself heard as soon as someone exonerates her, while the core of the criticism does not change at all.
John supports Molletjes
Crime journalist John van den Heuvel is in the Mollen camp as usual. “I think that is quite crucial. If a victim says: ‘I don’t blame her, because she just did what she had to do’, then I think that is a rehabilitation compared to all those people who have severely criticized her,” he says in RTL Boulevard.
TV critic Rob Goossens argues against this. “I so disagree with you, John, and why not? What Naomi says is absolutely correct and I completely understand her, she is one hundred percent right that Linda had the integrity not to do this, because Naomi asked.”
“Listen, Rob!”
But, Rob continues: “Linda was of course also a main character and pawn within the Talpa company, in which the program The Voice was made in which Ali played a role.”
John continues: “Yes, but Rob, listen: if someone asks you: ‘I’m telling you this, but I don’t want this to be shared’, then you only have one thing to do and that is to keep your mouth shut, I think. Then you won’t run off with a story like that everywhere again against the wishes of a victim.”
Criminal offences
Luuk Ikink still questions this. “Not even if there is a person within Talpa who you suspect might commit criminal offences? That you just tap your brother and say: ‘Hey, I would dump him, I wouldn’t continue with him’?”
John: “I am a journalist and if someone tells me a story, despite the fact that a murder is announced, so to speak, and they say: ‘I don’t want you to do anything with it because there are certain reasons for it’, then I think you should stick to that and she did that too.”
Down feather
Rob insists: he thinks Linda should have done more. “I understand what you are saying, especially from your role, but in this case Linda could have said anonymously: ‘I have received quite serious complaints about Ali B.’ Her brother should have known that at that moment.”
“In any case, Linda must be open to questions about that and she is not open to that, but the moment someone walks up with a very small down feather, she bends down to receive it eagerly. I find that rather strange.”
