Maarten van Rossem apologizes to Eva Jinek for his comments about her second baby. “And Youp van ‘t Hek? They should stop writing about well-known Dutch people!”
Maarten van Rossem’s criticism that Eva Jinek’s second baby follows very late after the first, namely about five years, is not well received. Heleen van Royen thinks this kind of interference is ridiculous and Youp van ‘t Hek now even doubts whether he wants to come back to the Netherlands, he jokes. The comedian currently resides in New York.
Martin says sorry
Presenter Tom Jessen asks Maarten in their podcast to mass criticism. “There are people who wonder if you want to apologize because of the statement about Jinek.”
Yes, Maarten replies. “Yes, I want to do my best. It was not my intention to hurt or offend anyone or anything. In fact, that comment was about the issue of the age difference in youth, because someone said, “That’s so nice, because then they can grow up together nicely.” Hello! Five years, dude!”
Five years
In terms of content, Maarten sticks to his criticism that there is a big age difference between Eva’s children. “If children differ by five years, then the eldest child is in the sixth grade of secondary school and the youngest child is just starting. Those are completely different worlds. So yes, that’s what my comment was about.”
He continues: “I supplemented that with my experiences with my brother. We are seven years apart. Back in the day, when he was 11 and I was 18… I was already courting, going to college and he was still a boy. That’s what my comment was about. Nothing was less true than my desire to hurt or to criticize.”
Total nothing
Maarten does not understand the fuss that has arisen. “I’ve seen all those excitements that you think of again… The echo chamber of the media, the crowned ignoramus of the total nothingness. Let’s resolve never to say anything about anyone else on television except maybe myself and Philip. Let’s limit it to that.”
And what does Maarten think of Youp van ‘t Hek’s criticism that he has nothing to say about Eva’s family planning? “It wasn’t about that at all! It was about the age difference. God almighty still. Of course he didn’t even look at it or listen to it. No, that’s all been retweeted!”
Taken out of bondage
Youp is getting carried away in the media commotion, thinks Maarten. “It’s all gone through that endless mill of repetition, which actually takes everything out of context in a very unfortunate way. Again, criticism was definitely not my intention. Jinek can have as many children as she wishes at all conceivable times.”
He continues: “I was concerned about the age difference and the fact that five years old was said: ‘Well, that doesn’t really matter much.’ I didn’t think that was right.”
Had not thought of
Tom points out that Maarten ignores the fact that Eva may have tried to have children before. “There was a lady who reported that she had been trying to have children for years.”
Maarten: “Yes, I admit: I hadn’t thought about that at all at the time. Because, again: my comment had a completely different intent. And Youp shouldn’t write about that in that column either, because that is the great shortcoming of Youp’s column. That’s that bullshit about famous Dutch people. Write about something more serious!”
