Linda de Mol sees the big lawsuit against her beloved Jeroen Rietbergen getting closer. Will she go hand in hand with him to court? “I think it’s better not to.”
It is not nothing: Jeroen Rietbergen, the former band leader of The Voice of Holland, is being prosecuted for rape. It seems that the lawsuit against Linda de Mol’s lover will start after the summer. Now she gets away with their togetherness, but what if he is actually convicted?
Four to five months
According to Private boss Evert Santegoeds, it is not yet clear when the process will start. No, no date has been set yet. What I understand from legal circles is that it takes about four or five months. Then it’s just summer, so it could be September, I think,” he says in the podcast Strictly Private.
Linda will still be insecure all this time, just like Jeroen and his alleged victim. “That is a very long time for everyone, but good: work has time to do, my grandmother always said. It is all very precise and there are many considerations. The case is under a huge magnifying glass, so that takes time and it is busy in the courtrooms.”
Hand in hand
Which image would really eat away at Linda’s image? If she would appear in court hand in hand with Jeroen to support him in court. Telegraaf reporter Jordi Versteegden: “Do you actually expect Linda de Mol to sit in the room to support Jeroen?”
Evert, who is pro-Linda, thinks that’s not a good idea. “I don’t know, I don’t know. The piece that is written about it does not get any smaller when Linda is also there to support him. I think she will think: well, I was not there then and not now.”
Vulnerable
One thing is certain: the whole thing still strikes a chord within the Mol family. Especially when the trial comes closer, the family is very keen to distract the masses, thinks media connoisseur Victor Vlam. “It’s all been very hard there and they feel vulnerable,” he says in his podcast The Communicados.
John de Mol therefore consciously aims for controversy about other media parties, says Victor. That is why, according to him, the TV billionaire is happy with the VI trio, which continuously causes riots about other TV stars. “Today Inside has really become John de Mol’s thugs. And that is what he really wants.”
Squad
John’s goons?! Victor clarifies: “Those affairs have cut into it hard. It has all fallen very hard there and they feel vulnerable. And John would like nothing more than for RTL and NPO to come under fire for once. He’s actually someone who obviously doesn’t want to take the beatings; he wants to deal the blows.”
“With the VI trio he can deal those blows, because they do that very well. And that is exactly how John de Mol likes it, because he wants his competitors to be put to the test for once.”
Strictly Private
Linda hand in hand with Jeroen? Evert speculates: