Sporty: Albert Verlinde takes the plunge for concealing his family ties with the current editor-in-chief of RTL Boulevard. “She did this a bit clumsily.”
Phew, phew: the damage to RTL Boulevard’s image is incalculable now that the program appears to have North Korean features and censors everything furiously when something is said that harms RTL’s interests. Criticism of Linda de Mol? Hatseflats! Immediately out! Unprecedented. And no Aran Bade, no Luuk Ikink or no Rob Goossens to stand up against it.
Albert responds
Curiously enough, the founder of the program, Albert Verlinde, was also fairly mild about the censorship trick last week at the table at Today Inside. Why? Shortly after the broadcast it turned out that the current editor-in-chief of RTL Boulevard, Jorien van der Plas, is his niece. But Albert conveniently didn’t say that on television…
Wilfred Genee throws it directly at Albert’s feet when he joins us again last night in the talk show on SBS 6. “Nice to have you all here. Do you happen to have a family member that you have to defend today?”
Albert laughing: “No, not tonight.”
‘What a fuss!’
Wilfred invites Albert to give an explanation. “No, no one? Nobody censored anything?”
Albert: “No. Hahahaha. No, what a hassle, huh?”
Johan Derksen: “If you ever turn around, Albert, they are waiting for you, aren’t they!”
Wilfred: “Isn’t it a bit strange when it turns out to be your cousin?”
Albert: “The stupid thing is: I talk so often about Boulevard and Jorien, that is my niece, she has been editor-in-chief for so long. Then I can’t say every time: ‘Yes, she is the editor-in-chief’, I just…”
Serious stuff
Wilfred interrupts Albert. “Well, in case there is censorship… That is of course serious stuff.”
Albert: “I understand, that’s a different story. But of course I said that it went very far. So it’s not like I shouted: ‘Fantastic decision!’”
Johan jokes: “That editor-in-chief is incompetent, you said.”
Albert: “Yes. Hahahaha. We have another Christmas dinner soon, huh, just keep it quiet.”
D’r-op Goossens
Wilfred thinks that Albert has been a bit devious. “At the same time, you completely destroyed Rob Goossens, so you tackled him before the editor-in-chief.”
Albert: “Because I thought he did put Linda down a bit. His name is now D’r-op Goossens by the way, did you hear that? He has been given a new name, Mr. Goossens.”
Wilfred: “What do you think of that fuss all the time there at Boulevard? That he then hands in his phone and tonight he jokes about how he received fewer gifts from his wife.”
Making jokes
It’s embarrassing how Rob jokes about his cheating every night now. “I was curious whether I would have to go in Sinterklaas’s sack, but that wasn’t too bad,” he now shouted again. As if the viewer just has to laugh at a celebrity spotter who is now the wallpaper on the juice channels. And about that censorship action? Certainly not a word.
Albert: “Well, what you just see on Boulevard: they don’t know how to deal with it. They think: we’ll make a joke and then it’s over, but it doesn’t work that way. I also said that to Jorien. (…) I just think they should have said something about it the next day and just done it. Why they did it and who knows what.”
A bit off
Wilfred believes that RTL Boulevard has lost credibility. “But aren’t they just a bit off with this, by being so vague about it?”
Albert thinks it’s not too bad, but: “I think Boulevard should make some kind of protocol now, saying: if you cut something out, you have to consult with the person who said it, that’s one thing. And two: you have to announce that you have done it, of course.”
Legal status
Raymond Mens thinks differently. “Albert, those protocols are driving you crazy, aren’t you? You just have to say, ‘It was a mistake, straight through.’”
Albert: “No, because apparently there is something every now and then that makes them think: we have to do something, otherwise we will get into a legal situation.”
Johan: “This was not a legal problem, what that boy said. He could just say that. This was simply because they didn’t want anything to be said about Linda one way or the other.”
Awkward
Wilfred wonders who is really pulling the strings at Boulevard. “Does it come from the editor-in-chief or even higher? Is that Peter van der Vorst saying this? You know them well too, right?”
Albert: “Yes, hello, I worked on Boulevard for fifteen years, I know half that store there! I always feel like I know people and Peter is a very good friend of mine, but it didn’t happen to him. It really is just editorial: we don’t want this.”
He concludes: “Jorien is really great, but she did this a bit clumsily.”