In a few weeks, season 11 of the show “The Voice” will be broadcast on TF1. Our Dutch neighbors have followed suit since viewers were already discovering the images of their eleventh season when a scandal broke. A few days ago, the broadcast of “The Voice of Holland” was indeed interrupted, following accusations of sexual assault against one of the coaches, rapper Ali B, as well as the leader of the group. from the show Jeroen Rietbergen.
It was this Thursday, January 20, 2022 that the controversy took on an unprecedented scale, after the broadcast on YouTube, of the program “BOOS”, in which a former candidate testified. Anonymously and with a distorted voice, the young woman spoke to explain that she had been raped by Ali B eight years ago. As she explains, the artist would have started kissing her after giving her a tour of the studio. “I felt it was so powerful that I thought: what you want has to happen now” she said. Following the filing of two complaints for sexual assault, the rapper who strongly denies the accusations, was quickly fired by the channel broadcasting “The Voice”.
In the BOOS show, no less than 19 other women came to denounce the intimidating behavior of Jeroen Rietbergen against them. Overwhelmed, the 50-year-old producer then admitted in an official press release, having had “contact of a sexual nature with women involved in the program and WhatsApp messages of a sexual nature” and hastened to resign.
This scandal led to the departure of presenter Linda de Mol, who was none other than the companion of Jeroen Rietbergen. After leaving her companion, she indeed announced that she was stopping work in the face of this “terrible nightmare”. At the same time, one of the program’s coaches, singer Anouk, also announced her resignation, calling the program a “corrupt gang”. We note that the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte ordered the opening of an in-depth investigation.
Aliénor de la Fontaine