Paul de Leeuw and a whole series of other celebrities have been called to account by Story. The magazine wanted to know from them whether they have taken in refugees during the current asylum crisis.
The Story’s investigation led to an article with the headline ‘Earlier they signed a petition to help asylum seekers, but’, and then in large: ‘Celebrities leave refugees out in the cold.’ The conclusion of the weekly newspaper? Countless celebrities are extremely hypocritical in the discussion about the asylum problem.
Dutch celebrities under fire
According to Story, the hypocrisy is unprecedented. “According to Katja Schuurman, Paul de Leeuw, Jim Bakkum, Beau van Erven Dorens and Fatima Moreira de Melo, among others, the Dutch population should do more a few years ago to help refugees. But what have they done themselves, and what are they doing now during the asylum-seeker crisis?”
According to the magazine, these celebrities signed a refugee petition seven years ago. The Story therefore sent them a questionnaire, just like Susan Visser, Humberto Tan, Jeroen Krabbé, Diederik Jekel, Onno Hoes, Erland Galjaard and Wendy van Dijk.
Silent Stars
The Story has been completely silenced by all those stars. “Of all these people, only Diederik Jekel took the trouble to answer questions from Story, and Jim Bakkum let it be known through his spokesperson that he is currently living abroad.”
Diederik does not see it as his task to take refugees into their homes. “It’s fantastic when people take refugees into their homes. But at the same time, it also means failure of a country or system that thus depends on individuals to receive refugees.”
Paul responds
Just before the weekend, Paul de Leeuw briefly returned to the talk show Khalid & Sophie. “Do you ever get called if you want to receive refugees in your house?”, he was asked there.
The presenter then: “Yes, by Story. Yes, the Story called. They said: ‘You have ever said that you want to take refugees in your house, do you have refugees in your house?’ So I went looking for them, but I don’t have them.”
And VI trio?
What about the Today Inside trio? “I do find it difficult. You have read all those problems of those people who faced such a situation. To be honest, I find it easier to donate,” Wilfred Genee recently told Today Inside.
Johan Derksen: “I talked about it at home – it was about Ukraine at the time – and I came to the conclusion that I know myself and that after three weeks those people start to really dislike me, because they take a CD out of the closet and put don’t return it alphabetically. You have to realize that those people can then stay for two years. You have lost all your privacy.”
