Recommendations of the Editorial team
Fahri Yardım has broken his silence about Christian Ulmen. The “Jerks” star published a statement on Instagram on Sunday evening (March 22) about the allegations made public by Ulmen’s ex-wife Collien Fernandes.
“So. Late. Incomplete. I’m as shocked as many others,” writes Yardım. Further: “I admire Collien’s courage. I am grateful for the support she receives. I feel for her. And I am grateful for the way she translates her personal story into a force that makes real structural change possible. She has my full solidarity for that.”
The full statement
“For me, believing victims is a fundamental normative attitude. The allegations deserve protection, serious attention and the clear prioritization of the perspective of those affected. I am aware that my hesitation is not neutral. It has an effect. It influences which interpretations are given weight, which perspectives are consolidated and which protective spaces are strengthened or weakened. Even if I do not intend this, I am part of this effect. I also know that hesitation in such constellations has often historically and structurally contributed to the fact that those affected were not believed or were not given sufficient protection.
And yet: I couldn’t help it. I needed time. From the special situation of being touched on two levels. For me, these two levels – public and personal – are not in competition. They exist at the same time. And it was precisely this simultaneity that, for me, could not be translated into a quick, clear position without something essential being lost.
Maybe there is an idea of what it means when such abysses open up in close circles of friends. How special the shock is right there. I don’t want to romanticize this ambiguity: it can enable knowledge, but it can also shift responsibility, delay decisions and stabilize existing power relations. As necessary as ambiguity is for emancipatory movements, it must not become a moral relief. Your strength lies not in avoiding decisions, but in the ability to tolerate complexity without making it non-committal.
I try to locate myself precisely in this tension: not between positions, but within a responsibility that requires clarity – and self-criticism. This also means not seeing your own perspective as closed, but rather thinking about your blind spots.
This is not a final answer. But I see more clearly that my hesitation – and lack of a timely position – is itself a position. With real consequences. And I try to face these consequences not only mentally, but also practically.”
Mixed reactions to the statement
By the evening, Yardım had already received almost 5,000 reactions to his statement. To put it mildly, the comments are mixed. Some praise him for his courage, others accuse him of having the text written by an AI – because of the many empty words. “Formulations like ’emancipatory movements’, ‘normative attitude’ or ‘structural change’ are standard building blocks of modern language models. If you tell an AI: ‘Write a critical statement in the style of a sociology student’, that’s exactly what would come out of it,” claims one follower
Actress Rosalie Thomass writes with reference to Ulmen: “If the public and personal levels are not in competition for you, then you could ask him in a friendly way to at least make public the names of the buyers of his products. So that we can protect ourselves from them. In the sense of ‘a responsibility that demands clarity’. Mille Grazie.”
AI allegations
Actor Steffen Groth: “That sounds generic, cryptic and impersonal to me. More like ChatGPT than your opinion. I have no idea what your actual attitude is. Sorry, but keeping quiet would have been better for me…”
Author Leonie Lutz: “My first impulse: FINALLY! Then I read: box sentences, terms like ambiguity, normative, historical, emancipatory, etc. This statement is formulated so cryptically. And when you read it, it leaves you with the feeling: SHAME. I can only make assumptions: As a friend, you might want to support your friend despite the depths that you may now be aware of, even if he is said to have acted criminally, delinquently or immorally. As As a public figure, you also have a different role that you wanted to do justice to here. You could have written: “FUCK, I didn’t expect that. I need time and conversations to understand all of this!” That would have been humane and understandable.”
Support, on the other hand, comes from Cathy Hummels: “I think it’s generally difficult to understand how someone can do something like that to someone… I think your words are very good 🩵”
