Is Peter van der Vorst’s position as TV boss of RTL in doubt now that he has messed up so much with Matthijs van Nieuwkerk? Victor Vlam thinks so, but what does he think?
It really seems that Matthijs van Nieuwkerk’s TV career is over: his image is under so much pressure that he will never be able to please the general public again. People are now fed up with all those stories about his transgressive behavior. The throat grab incident is the final straw for many people, even if it is unproven.
Million dollar noose
According to the AD, several former employees of De Wereld Draait Door recognize themselves in the throat grabbing incident and then there is actually no longer a lawsuit necessary to have Matthijs convicted in the eye of public opinion. Even if there is not enough legal evidence, the masses will always remember that several former colleagues support this.
Peter van der Vorst, the TV boss of RTL, has suspended Matthijs after pressure from outside and he now acknowledges his mega blunder, namely that he hired the presenter before the publication of the Van Rijn report. And if RTL cannot terminate the contract with Matthijs, this could mean a loss of millions for the channel.
Position wavers
Will such a million-dollar blunder cost Peter his job? Media critic Victor Vlam speculates about it The Telegraph. “I think that Peter van der Vorst’s job is not entirely secure, that photo of Peter putting his arm around Matthijs after signing the contract in December is of course painful to see with retroactive effect.”
He continues: “The damage to RTL’s image is also significant. RTL must ask itself internally why they did not see the allegations of physical intimidation coming. Stories like this were already going around. Perhaps Van der Vorst was too eager. That could cost him his job.”
Peter responds
What does Peter himself think of that suggestion? He responds, also in the newspaper: “This is not about my position, this is about the abuses at the public broadcaster.”
According to Angela de Jong, Peter made the decision to drop Matthijs after the sponsor of his new Olympic Games talk show dropped out, but Peter denied this to RTL Boulevard. Angela then cynically: “Yes, of course, I would do that too.”
‘I can imagine’
And according to Peter, what is true about the claim that athletes have indicated that they do not want to join Matthijs in such a talk show?
He said about this in the newspaper: “I can imagine when athletes hear these kinds of serious accusations, which Matthijs himself denies, they question it when they sit around the table with him.”