It is surprising to many people that Theo Maassen is allowed to continue at BNNVARA. What do the broadcaster’s stars think? “Astrid Joosten and Tim Hofman say nothing.”
BNNVARA boss Suzanne Kunzeler has a moral compass that only works when it suits her. She threw Matthijs van Nieuwkerk under the bus when he just wanted to start working at RTL, possibly out of spite, but she does look away from her own broadcaster face Theo Maassen. The man accused of serious domestic violence.
“Not even denied!”
That is all private and that is why his new series Der Theo remains in the broadcast schedule, according to Suzanne. Television authority Tina Nijkamp points out that Theo has not even denied the accusations. “He has never said anything and they are fine with this. That really surprises me,” she says in the podcast Tina’s TV Update.
She continues: “Of course a private matter is different from a work matter, but it is true that the Private matter did not happen overnight. There are 125,000 apps that all contain these kinds of things and Theo himself has not yet responded.”
Bad example
Tina thinks Suzanne is setting a bad example. “I do think that if NPO and BNNVARA, which are under so much fire, are not setting a good example when you do this. You’re actually saying: ‘Well, you’re not allowed to do anything at work, but what happens at home… Then we turn a blind eye.’ I find that very strange.”
The BNNVARA boss is just not being smart, she thinks. “I think it is unwise because it could also be a ticking time bomb. Much more can come out. There has now been a report to the police and many consequences could arise from this. I don’t understand why they didn’t leave it on the shelf for a while.”
Astrid and Tim
Will the celebrities of BNNVARA also look away? “I’m curious what other stars from BNNVARA think about this. Tim Hofman who fights against injustice, right? He made the whole Voice scandal public. What does he think about this? I don’t think he is at all happy that Theo Maassen is going to put this on television at such short notice.”
Astrid Joosten seems like a celebrity with norms and values. “What does she think? Yet also a prominent BNNVARA star. I’m curious to see how that goes internally.”
Over the summer
Private boss Evert Santegoeds, who brought out the stories about Theo, believes that BNNVARA is acting unwisely. “You can also say: let’s take it beyond the summer,” he says in the podcast Strictly Private.
He concludes: “Theo Maassen has not denied anything yet, but BNNVARA simply says: ‘That program will continue as usual.’ Where Matthijs is judged for his actions, Theo Maassen is not.”