It will undoubtedly be a lonely Christmas for Thijs Römer. The actor is now known as a pervert and you don’t want that at your Christmas dinner. “He better emigrate.”
Thijs Römer was sentenced in the summer to three months in prison, two of which were conditional, and 240 hours of community service for the online abuse of three underage girls. The actor actually has to spend a month in prison, but has appealed. And in theory it could be that this would cause him to hum even longer.
Arrogant Thijs
If he ever gets out of jail, can Thijs work as an actor again? It will be very difficult with such a damaged image, says image expert Zabeth van Veen in the Weekend. “The biggest mistake he made is that he ignored the media when he walked to court, which made him appear very arrogant,” she says.
What could Thijs have done better? “He could have said better: ‘I’m so emotional and confused, I can’t respond properly right now, sorry.’ Then you keep it to yourself, but you don’t have an arrogant attitude. In addition, Thijs has appealed.”
Penance
If Thijs had wanted to retain any hope for a comeback, he would have had to do public penance, according to Zabeth. “That’s always number one.”
However, it must be and come across as sincere, she continues. “Only when you are really sorry can you start a charm offensive. And when tricks are used, the question is how long the plaster will stick to the wound.”
Abroad
However, Thijs thinks it is especially important not to have to go to jail and that is to the detriment of his image, Zabeth concludes. “I think he would be better off going abroad for the time being. What he has shown so far is not okay.”
She concludes: “There is no point in helping someone who actually still thinks it’s all nonsense, as it happens to him, because then it isn’t real. Then you ultimately fall through the cracks and you have even less public trust.”