Steven Brunswijk and his brother Eric Brunswijk make a serious allegation against Ruud de Wild. “He just told me, ‘I don’t talk to niggers. I don’t talk to blacks.’”
There is a lot of controversy surrounding Ruud de Wild. The radio DJ walked away from his program on NPO Radio 2 this week and did not return because he is bothered by persistent accusations of racism. He conducted a ridiculous interview with the maker of the much-discussed Babi-Pangang documentary and is, according to critics, a racist.
Ruud racist?
Steven Brunswijk recognizes himself in that criticism. He writes on one Instagramchannel of BnnVara: “My brother once made a song with Herman Brood (Daddy isn’t coming home tonight). The intention was to promote this record on the radio and explain the intention behind the song.”
He continues: “Just before the radio show started, my brother wanted to introduce himself to Ruud de Wild, so he logically extended his hand. Then he said the legendary words: ‘I don’t shake hands with black people’ and then walked away. My brother was with a white friend of his. They looked at each other in amazement.”
‘This is necessary’
Why is Steven coming up with this now? “Yes, I never told this, but now that this man is in the media, I think it is necessary to tell this.”
Steven and his brother Eric Brunswijk are together in the Show news from last night. “We never said anything about it, but now that we saw this coming out from Ruud de Wild…,” says Eric.
He is referring to the following statement by Ruud: “I am not a racist at all and I will not let anyone, absolutely anyone, tell me that.”
“Tell me!”
Steven does think Ruud is a racist. “I said to him, ‘Maybe you should tell the story,’ and what people believe or don’t believe is up to them.”
Brother Eric: “In 1999 I was in a rap group that had gotten Herman Brood into rapping. We recorded a single with them. Way back in the day, around that time, you had to plug your records in Hilversum. I then saw Ruud de Wild standing there, together with Rob Stenders. I walk towards it, and Ruud de Wild turns around and asks: ‘Who are you?’”
“So I give him an answer and what I’m here for, and he says, ‘I don’t talk to niggers. I don’t talk to blacks.’ And he turns and he walks away. That was it.”
“Hey, sorry!”
Steven thinks Ruud should go through the motions. “The only thing Ruud de Wild could do now is say: ‘Hey, sorry, it wasn’t my intention’, or whatever, he never did that. He just walked away.”
Celebrity expert Bart Ettekoven in the studio: “This sounds so bizarre that you can hardly imagine that it really happened, right? I can’t imagine that you would do this, that Ruud de Wild would do this, that anyone would do this at all.”
What does Ruud say about it? “His management says: ‘Can’t you talk about something positive from Ruud for once?’ They actually didn’t want to bother Ruud.”
Strange reaction
Studio guest Albert Verlinde believes that Ruud’s management is inadequate with this response. “What a strange reaction.”
Bart: “Yes, a very strange reaction. They didn’t want to bother Ruud with this. Very strange, because I would be there if this were said about you. Then you want to get it out of the world? They also say very clearly that it was not a joke. Even then it is a very bad joke, but it is so bizarre…”
Thwarted
Presenter Tooske Ragas believes that Ruud has done a lot. “What I find so bizarre: this was decades ago, so the fact that these two brothers now decide that they want to talk about it because it apparently still bothers them so much means that it means a lot to them.”
Bram Moszkowicz: “This is definitely a management situation where a manager has to do something.”
Tooske concludes: “Yes, and realize that it is serious.”
