Matthijs van Nieuwkerk says he will stop his work at BNNVARA immediately. He informed the ANP news agency on Monday. The presenter and television maker says to “sever ties” with the broadcaster, because he believes that cooperation is impossible if his employer “openly doubts [zijn] sincerity”. Van Nieuwkerk and BNNVARA were not yet available for NRC.
Van Nieuwkerk was discredited last weekend after de Volkskrant published an extensive article in which former employees of the popular television program The world goes on opened up about the work culture behind the scenes of the program. Van Nieuwkerk is said to have had extreme outbursts of anger during his time on the talk show between 2005 and 2020 and colleagues publicly lost weight.
“I notice that many emotions are fighting for priority,” says Van Nieuwkerk, who is temporarily putting down his work. “Shame for the fear that editors have felt, regret that I had – literally – blind ambition and therefore crossed boundaries, sadness about that The world goes on, after all, my life’s work, is wavering.” The presenter says he wants to come to his senses in the coming period.