Gijs Groenteman and Tim den Besten get a big slap on the fingers now that the first Zomergasten is over and Humberto Tan turned out to be an interesting guest. “It’s stupid and elitist.”
The announcement that Humberto Tan would be the first guest to join the new season of Zomergasten provoked strong reactions from NPO celebrities Gijs Groenteman, Marcel van Roosmalen and Tim den Besten. Gijs and Marcel considered Humberto too light for such a talk show, Tim shouted that he must have been chosen because he is dark.
Evert surprised
Johan Fretz was the first with a counter-reaction. He quickly called the criticism “pedantic twaddle”. And now that the broadcast is over, the stars of Shownieuws are also making themselves heard.
Private boss Evert Sankrediets: “I also thought that was a bit strange, that premature criticism. Isn’t he a very interesting guest who has been through a lot? Just prizes and made programs that were successful. He is an enterprising and substantive guest.”
‘Dumb and elitist’
Iris van Lunenburg, the beloved of VPRO presenter Pieter van der Wielen, says: “I think it’s a bit elitist. He wouldn’t be good enough, when I think he’s one of the greatest TV presenters we have in our country. He was super eloquent and really articulate. Well told and very open too. The criticism was really too premature as far as I’m concerned.”
Top photographer William Rutten: “Isn’t it also very stupid to say that he is not an interesting guest? He is a very intelligent man, very eloquent. He knows everything. If you ask him something, he knows. He has read or read something about everything.”
Humberto responds
Humberto himself briefly returned to the criticism during Zomergasten, namely when it was about whether he still sometimes feels ‘guest’ in the Netherlands. “Well, you know. Every now and then… Take the announcement of this show alone. People haven’t even seen what we’re about to show and you really got the criticism already. Always at Zomergasten anyway, but…”
Presenter Janine Abbring: “It was more than average indeed, you mean that people thought: why Humberto Tan in Zomergasten?”
Humberto: “Yes.”
Apologies
In contrast to Gijs Groenteman and Marcel van Roosmalen, Tim den Besten has apologized for his statements.
“I’d like to apologize for being a bit blunt about Zomergasten recently. That was not collegial and not neat. My borderline took a seat behind the wheel for a while. Blame it on the borderline.”