Duncan Laurence denied live in Humberto Tan’s talk show last night that he is coming out of a period of intensive drug use. “I just lost people to that!”
It was a horror spring for Duncan Laurence: there are few artists who have come under as much fire this year as he. He completely failed as a mentor to the Eurovision Song Contest entry Mia & Dion, but the criticism against him quickly became very personal. Prominents such as Evert Santegoeds and Gerard Joling even accused him of drug use.
‘People lost’
For the first time since that media storm, Duncan has given a major interview. He was in the talk show by Humberto Tan. There was no interpreter next to him, because the singer now speaks Dutch again.
Asked about the strong reactions and speculation about drug use, Duncan answers: “Yes, I know. It really went great. I’m used to it, but I thought it was a different story for Mia & Dion. I blame quite a few people for that. It really bothered me at that time. Especially because I have lost people to addiction.”
Duncan denies it
Duncan denies that he is or was on the drug. “I have never touched drugs myself. Yeah, I’ve smoked, who hasn’t, you know? I lived in Amsterdam and went to LA. I sometimes smoke a joint there. Come on, I’m an artist, you know. Do I go further than that? No, because I’ve lost people to it. That’s what Arcade is also about.”
It all “devastated” him, according to the Arcade singer. “It felt so overwhelming to me that something I had previously processed was stirred up in a different way. I couldn’t handle that. I just couldn’t handle it well. I’ve done therapy. With tapping and EMDR techniques.”
Thinner and thinner
Why didn’t Duncan deny it sooner? “In my opinion, it is not news if there is no source behind it, if there is no truth behind it. When it comes to speculation. ‘Duncan is on hard drugs’, because we freeze a screenshot of him during an interview and then Duncan Laurence looks exactly like that. I will demonstrate it in the camera (photo: left).”
He continues: “Yes, you can do that with anyone, you know. Was I getting thinner and thinner because I am stressed and have a history of changing my weight anyway? Yes. There were all kinds of things involved, but not the things the press said. Things just weren’t going well for me, but that was it.”
‘It goes too far’
People like Evert and Gerard should just scratch their heads, says Duncan, without naming them. “These things go too far for me. I hope people realize when they say things like this that it really does something to you.”
Duncan thinks it is important not to pretend to be bigger than he is. “Of course, you can always say that it doesn’t affect you, but you feel it,” he concludes.
Fragment
Duncan at Humberto: