It has been almost eleven months since Theo Maassen was accused of domestic violence on the cover of Privé. He never denied it and has now disappeared. “Never experienced this before.”
It is significant that in January, the weekly magazine Privé dared to advertise on the cover without any reservations that Theo Maassen was guilty of domestic violence. ‘SHOCKING FILE’, it sounded. ‘His wife: broken nose. His ex: head wound. His mistress: ‘He solves everything with hitting and sex.’”
Silence
Private boss Evert Santegoeds apparently had and still has so much evidence that he would face a possible lawsuit with enough confidence. “Who can ever laugh at him AFTER THIS?” was also stated on the cover.
There was no lawsuit — telling — and no denial: also telling. In fact, even when the VPRO decided to take him off Zomergasten because he did not want to deny it, Theo continued to persevere. It is now eleven months later and the comedian still remains silent.
Big impact
When Evert looks back on the past year, he mainly thinks of Theo. “We started the year with Theo Maassen. Well, that had quite an impact. That’s why he was free all summer and didn’t have to go to Zomergasten on Sundays,” he says in the podcast Strictly Private.
His colleague Jordi Versteegden: “Did you expect that when you wrote the story about the Theo Maassen case and how it ultimately ended?”
Not expected
No, Evert didn’t expect that. “No, usually someone says: ‘It is so’, or: ‘It is not so’, or starts a lawsuit, but he did nothing at all and not even when the VPRO made it clear: then we will remove you from Zomergasten, also then he kept quiet about it, so yeah…”
“It was his choice and that’s quite a surprising one that I hadn’t experienced before in my career, just someone not saying anything about it.”
‘Says a lot’
That silence is really suspicious, according to Jordi. “So that actually says a lot to you?”
Evert: “Yes, actually.”
Zomergasten was a mixed bag last summer due to Theo’s absence. Evert: “I think Wilfred Genee would have wanted it too, because he didn’t have a stage in the summer, so he must have gotten an itch at home on the couch.”