There are many ways to pretend to apologize without actually doing it. John de Mol showed many techniques in the interview with Tim Hofman. Two examples: ‘I’d prefer to convey personal mea culpas’ – using the word ‘would’ means you’re not actually doing it. ‘I hope it doesn’t have a major impact on those people for the rest of their lives’ – subtext: I can’t help it. De Mol managed to avoid the words ‘sorry’ and ‘I’m sorry’ completely, as well as expressions of remorse and empathy.
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