After the misconduct of Matthijs van Nieuwkerk came out, Astrid Joosten strongly doubted whether she should join Op1. “It’s such thin ice and you never get it right.”
After the scandal surrounding De Wereld Draait Door came out, where Matthijs van Nieuwkerk behaved like a studio executioner according to de Volkskrant, a considerable shock wave went through the BNNVARA building. Broadcasting celebrity Astrid Joosten decided to give an explanation during a live broadcast of Op1.
Slippery ice
During that Op1 performance, Astrid was also critical of her own employer. “I was stunned, angry and ashamed of the company I work for,” said the presenter, for example.
How does she look back on that? She says in the VARA guide: “Op1 called if I wanted to tell them how things had fallen into the company. At first I thought, should I do that? Such slippery ice and you never get it right anyway.”
Rushed
Astrid finally agreed. “Now I had attended the staff meeting the day before and I was shocked by how it affected all colleagues. I wanted to convey that feeling, also on their behalf. Menno Bentveld was also willing to go. We wanted to have enough time and not that it would be rushed. Op1 agreed to that.”
Did BNNVARA like that? “I did not ask the management for permission, but I did inform it. Suzanne Kunzeler (director of content BNNVARA, ed.) texted back: ‘Astrid, BNNVARA is also your company where you have worked for so long and about which you have an opinion. Tell your story.’”
Well done
Now Astrid looks back on her TV appearance with a satisfied feeling. “I wanted above all to convey the opinion of my colleagues. But I was very tense about how the reactions would be.”
“I immediately checked my phone and luckily saw a lot of thumbs up. And then I thought: okay, well done.”
