Peter van der Vorst made a sensitive knot two and a half years ago: after a long delay he decided to throw the Gerard Joling show over foreigners. “The perspective was wrong.”
Nowadays Gerard Joling is somewhat thought of, but he used to write very high -profile columns in which he opposed the ‘Islamization of our country’. Peter van der Vorst, the current TV boss of RTL but then just presenter, was very critical about it: “I think you as an artist also have a kind of responsibility.”
Gerard canceled
A year later, in 2019, when Peter became the director of RTL, the recordings of a controversial program started: Joling and the foreigners. Soon, however, the racism debate exploded and RTL seemed to have cold water fear. Initially, an ‘adjustment’ was announced to the program, after which it seemed to be a delay.
In the meantime, Gerard was no longer allowed to say a word about this production and it soon became apparent why: RTL hoped to quietly throw this show at the bulky waste. Three years after the start of the recordings, it was already 2022 at the time, Peter decided to cancel the program definitively. Despite the fact that everything was completely ready on the shelf.
Peter responds
Peter responds now de Volkskrant Why he threw away that program. ”Gerard was pronounced about some population groups, and we thought: how can we use that for a program?”
“Then the idea arose to disprove his prejudices about certain population groups, by letting Gerard go to such a country with a fame. But Corona came in, and Black Lives Matter. When I was shown the first full assemblies, episodes about Suriname and Morocco, I suddenly thought it was crazy. ”
Totally wrong
It suddenly no longer matched the spirit of the times, says Peter. “That program was conceived and made by a non-Diverse club of people. The fame that went on a journey with Gerard had to prove that all his prejudices were incorrect. What a totally wrong perspective. “
“I was in my stomach, and in the end we decided not to continue. We constantly learn. Incidentally, it was not Gerard who stuck his neck out for this project. ”
PVV voter
Gerard is an avid PVV voter. Does Peter still vote for the SP? “No, no. I moved to the middle. D66 appeals to me, but the last time I voted for GroenLinks-PvdA, strategic. I hoped they would be the biggest. “
According to Gerard, the leader of GroenLinks-Pvda, Frans Timmermans, is a road view and an ‘insane’. Peter: “Progressive parties think the rights of minorities are more important, that appeals to me, but I also think that the left parties have left the immigration issue.”