Derksen experts claimed: ‘Even if the gun is looking or not, take it out of the tube’.

Comments from Johan Derksen in today Media scientists and communication experts told NU.nl that it was very bad last Tuesday and Wednesday and Talpa Network had to intervene. “Send the men to training to find out what the attacks and rapes have done to the victims.”

Derksen described a situation on Tuesday when he was younger: An unconscious woman was pierced with a candle, allegedly during a drunken evening. He told the story to paint a picture of the times, in his own words; We used to be able to do more, now we can do less.

The statements were inundated with criticism. According to communications experts, stepping back a day later on the show and “just” putting the candle between her legs doesn’t make things any better.

Crisis communication expert Ingrid van Frankenhuyzen strongly condemns Derksen’s statements. “Like many people of a certain generation, he speaks to the zeitgeist: that’s how it used to be. It may be true, but we cannot justify or downplay such behavior. Penetration with a candle didn’t really feel right. in every era, so that’s a false argument.”

“Their laughter makes the situation even more painful”

Lars Duursma, communication expert and podcast maker at De EditionShe says that no matter what’s true and what’s exaggerated or made up, she instantly sympathizes with “all the women who have had to see how rape is something we can laugh about later”. “It was staged to minimize new allegations of sexual abuse against Johnny de Mol (editor’s note, who stopped his talk show after an accusation in addition to the accusation of his ex-fiancée).”

According to Duursma, diners should have reacted very differently. Steven Brunswijk, René van der Gijp and Rob Geus laughed in the studio after the anecdote. “It made the laugh even more painful than Derksen’s original confession. Moreover, it is easier to sit at home on the couch or to post on social media than during a cheerful talk show where laughing at powerful stories is central. Derksen needs to understand this strange confession before sharing it.”

According to Duursma, Derksen’s comeback on Wednesday evening was in any case completely unbelievable. “There are probably three people who can point to what actually happened, including a former SC Veendam goalkeeper (Editor’s Note, who Derksen said was present at the time of the incident). The real question is whether you should be suffocating them with something a publisher should be doing. To be able to see it anyway is completely unacceptable.”

Van Frankenhuyzen believes that Derksen’s flashback only confirms his lack of self-reflection. Just like John de Mol, right next to you SoundScandals “didn’t know any better,” he said. I’d say send them a course on what assault and rape do to victims. How it destroys your soul. Putin uses it as a weapon of war for a reason.”

‘The difference with Johnny de Mol’

Media scientist Simone Driessen finds the way in which Derksen tells her story striking, given the current zeitgeist and the media debates of recent months. “It’s special, because that’s exactly why he tells an anecdote: they were very drunk, it happened at a certain moment. Derksen seems to know that what happened was not really possible, but that it took more, it hadn’t really been thought through. about his position.”

No apologies were ever made to those involved or the inappropriateness of such behaviour, Driessen continues. “That is a difference with Johnny de Mol, who has included a scene in his show to explain his choices. Maybe he had to do it because of the revelations of other media, but the process has been different lately.

Driessen’s thought in today As a program it should show more reflection on the case. “It would be interesting to show during the broadcast what the consequences were of such discussions, for example the dismissal of dinner guest Roos Schlikker. But it is also why Derksen’s words once again received such wide media attention and caused so much excitement.” †

“Similar to statements by Donald Trump”

The situation reminds Duursma of many of the leaked statements of former US President Donald Trump a month before he was elected president. “As a famous man, you can get away with anything to do with women,” he said:You can do anything. Grab them by the pussies.(You can do anything, take it off the cross.) The difference is that these statements were made when Trump thought they were off the record, and the question is whether Derksen will get away with it. †

Van Frankenhuyzen is clear about what the results should be. “In our society, such men are gradually becoming. Whether they’re looking at a gun or not, get them away from the TV. Culture change comes from above, so I better stop Talpa.”