Albert Verlinde has to pay a fine because he has damaged the good name of Humberto Tan. He is guilty of libel. That is the outcome of a closed Public Prosecution Service hearing.
Albert Verlinde suggested in Shownieuws last January that Humberto Tan was guilty of misconduct during his years at RTL Late Night. He lumped it together with the abuse scandal around The Voice and called on RTL to conduct a large-scale investigation. And all that completely unfounded.
Mega quarrel
Albert has come under enormous criticism. Humberto was so gallant to give Albert the opportunity to take back his words, but the show connoisseur waited so long that Humberto decided to press charges. Only after that report did Albert cowardly back off. A little later he even went deep into the dust.
Nevertheless, Humberto decided to just leave the complaint against Albert. The gentlemen met each other in June at a charity event. “At a certain point you can also continue to apologize, but I keep saying: I can also climb Mont Blanc on my knees now, but it stops somewhere,” said the show expert.
Guilty
In the view of the Public Prosecution Service, Albert is guilty of defamation. “The statements made by the presenter in the Shownieuws broadcast are damaging to Tan’s reputation. The enormous reach that the statements have had, in part due to the fame of both Verlinde and Tan, is aggravating the punishment.”
The Public Prosecution Service will not disclose the amount of the fine. “Albert’s lawyers say in a press release that the journalist will pay the fine. However, it should be noted that Albert and the Public Prosecution Service differ on whether there has been defamation,” reports RTL Boulevard.
magnified
Albert also believes that his statements ‘have been wrongly magnified’. The remarkable thing is that in the conscious broadcast of Shownieuws he himself expressed the expectation that media fuss would arise.
“I know I’m going to throw a bomb with this,” he said proudly, as he expressed the suspicions about Humberto’s address.
