Jan Slagter believes that the time has really come for John de Mol to put holiday park villain Peter Gillis with the bulky waste. “The government now sees him as a criminal entrepreneur.”
Peter Gillis is in increasingly difficult weather: according to NRC the government has classified him as an ‘alleged criminal entrepreneur’. “Municipalities can revoke their permits on the basis of such a Bibob investigation: exactly what Arnhem did with Gillis’ restaurant Veluwse Hoeve”, can be read in the daily newspaper.
Not in my stable
Would Jan Slagter, the boss of Omroep MAX, now pull the plug on Peter Gillis if he were John de Mol? “Well, I would have hoped that I wouldn’t have had him in my stable anyway,” he responds NPO Radio 1. “That sounds very easy, I know that.”
Jan understands that this does not happen overnight for John. “If you look at television, then he was a viewing figure gun for SBS 6. That’s just the way it is. In the beginning we were not ashamed of that, but as time has developed, he has been portrayed as someone who… Tax fraud, abuse, etcetera, etcetera.”
‘By Johnny’
Peter hasn’t been convicted of it yet. “And John de Mol has always said: ‘I’m not going to take it off the screen until there is a conviction.’ I can follow that thought because his own son was of course also made suspicious by an ex at a certain point and afterwards it turned out that none of that was true.”
Presenter Carl-Johan de Zwart: “Well, he has not been convicted in any case.”
Jan: “Well, the Public Prosecution Service also said: ‘The statements are not correct.’ There is something more than ‘he has not been convicted’. The Public Prosecution Service also had a burden of proof that what was said was incorrect.”
Out of the way
However, this issue is starting to become different from Johnny’s, Jan thinks. “It was then a reason for Johnny to step down himself; he couldn’t resist the pressure. So I can follow John de Mol’s thought, that he says: ‘I’m not going to put someone aside who hasn’t been convicted yet.’”
He continues: “But if the Public Prosecution Service now comes up with these kinds of qualifications… He has still not been convicted, but then the balance will tip very much, yes. This is an accumulation of many things. It’s not a thing.”
Does Klein intervene?
Jan’s hopes are pinned on Talpa’s new TV boss. “Frans Klein now works at John de Mol, we can hope that he can make some changes to that. But I would still say: ‘Okay, guys, mark the spot.’”
He concludes: “Suppose he is convicted of all those things, then of course you have had someone in your stable for a very long time. I think that the Public Prosecution Service does not just give these kinds of qualifications to someone without them also having proof…”