Theo Maassen remains silent about the allegations of domestic violence against him. According to private boss Evert Santegoeds, he broke his wife’s nose. “Exciting.”
Theo Maassen’s wife accuses him of domestic violence in a leaked app conversation of 125,000 words, which came into the hands of Privé through one of his mistresses. She says in the chats that he broke her nose when she looked for clues on the computer about his cheating; that would have made him angry.
Opposing forces
Doesn’t Evert Santegoeds find it exciting to put such a strong accusation on the front page? “Yes, still,” he admits in the podcast Strictly Private. “Of course, that also has to do with the fact that you never know what kind of opposing forces you can expect.”
Theo knew the article was coming. “We asked Theo for comments well before publication, as did VPRO, which plays a somewhat dubious role in my view. Those reactions were actually quite mild at the time. But the moment it is published, everyone will get involved.”
Countless bells
Everyone has an opinion about it. “You also immediately receive calls from half past six in the morning from radio programs that want your comments on the air, while I think: the magazine is not even in the shops yet, so we will just wait a while. That’s what makes it very exciting.”
He continues: “It is also very exciting to approach him yourself and ask what is going on with all those stories that you abuse women.”
Not a Private Figure
That task was completed by a colleague of Evert, journalist Frank Waals. “Who also wrote the story and spent weeks working on it. I initially said five weeks, but it ended up being nine weeks before we published and the whole of the Netherlands was talking about him.”
All in all, the cover of Privé has caused quite a stir. “Theo is of course not a well-known private figure. It’s never actually in Private.”