Eurovision: Why was Dutch rapper Joost Klein disqualified from the final? | DW News

This year's Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in the Swedish host city of Malmo was already proving controversial. There have been protests and tensions surrounding Israel's ESC participation while the war in Gaza is ongoing.

In a separate controversial incident, Netherlands' contestant Joost Klein has been disqualified. Klein did not perform in Friday's dress rehearsals, following what organizers described as "an incident". He'd then been removed from the contest with a police investigation into a complaint from a female member of the production crew. His song "Euro-papa" was among the favorites to win.

00:00 Dutch ESC contestant disqualified
00:35 Rosalie Engels, DW Culture
03:34 Richard Orange, The Local Nordic Editor

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[kaydesign]

Disqualifying the only song who was singing about Europe and Uniting. The foolishness is limitless 🇪🇺

[roryoconnor]

I find it amusing how they were vague about the "incident" but were quick to say it was a female crew member just to make it seem like it was some kind of secsual assault.

[R_D]

Maybe the organizers should keep their crew a bit more professional??

[nicoledb]

He had one boundary, not being filmed when leaving the stage and going backstage after the final emotional bit of singing for him about losing his parents at a young age. The woman ignored it every time and was rude. He just pushed a camera away nothing happend to the lady.... EBU is not right in the head.

[jackconrad]

He never touched her, and she was violating his privacy he didn’t wanna be photograph. I don’t think they should’ve just qualified him for that.

[tagaway]

She was obviously filming him 🎥
Show us the footage! Let us decide!!

[sirgrrr]

Imagine if joost was a woman keep saying stop and the cameraman ignores it. I believe result would have been quite different.

[blackbird]

EBU made a big mistake by disqualifying the Netherlands. Big. HUGE. Joost didn't do anything wrong, it is quite the opposite; The camera woman was harassing Joost. Joost did NOT touch her. The camera woman kept filming him, even while this is in breech of EBU's contract with the artist not to film backstage. Joost asked her twice to stop filming and she kept filming him, so he made a gesture to the camera not even to the camera woman! EBU disqualifying Joost is like victim blaming and so not right. I hope justice will be served and there will be pressed charges against the EBU and their camera woman. Joost, you are in our hearts and everyone knows you were the public's choice. No one can take that away from you, Joost! Eurovision should apologize to Joost and also publicly for what they have so unrightfully done to Joost. Disqualifying him is not right, just not right...

[lilithvanderzwaan]

Dutch here: What happened has come out. Joost had made an agreement that directly after his performance he was not to be put on video. To give him a bit of a pause / breathing room this because he goes through a lot of emotion. Later he attends camera / video. There was a woman who had been bothering him from before with a camera. That day she was bothering him once again. He repeatedly ask her to stop filming her. Then when she did not, he went to the camera and much like some police do put his hand to the camera. I believe he tried to lower the camera. This is the story, this is what officially transpired. It is ridicules the situation.

[MrSeine]

Not only Joost is unlawfully punished here. The whole crew, the dutch broadcaster, and fans are punished withhout an explanation or proof. This is how they are do things in Sweden. Everyone there is acting like it is completely normal. What about mediation or just a warning?

[freekvonk]

If Joost Klein is found not guilty of doing anything to her. This 1 woman has done some unimaginable emotional damage to Joost Klein. Joost has said multiple times that partaking in Eurovision would feel like closure for the death of his parents. He also ends his song on this heartfelt message. So she's done great emotional damage, which can easily be proven. That together with the fact that AVROTROS, the dutch broadcasting network, suffered a staggering loss in viewers. Plus she single handedly hurt the pride and ruined the night of a nation. I say this woman has a colossal defamation lawsuit coming her way.

[basnoordermeer]

Kicked out because of a Zero Tolerance policy, while they (ebu) should have created a safe environment for the artist, and protect him from the harassment of the camerawoman (with mobille phone?). Complete and utter incompetence but wouldn't be surprised if the whole thing has been planned just to neutralize the artist because of being critical to the organisation. The EBU has in fact disqualified itself during this festival. "United by music" ? Not.

[burnbobquist]

A key aspect was, that the area where she filmed was a "no filming" area. The Dutch said that in theire statement, she filmed in an area where filming was not allowed and Joost did not want to get filmed which she ignored. The EBU handled this very poorly.

[lucianmaftei]

The incident unfolded at a highly emotional time for Joost. At the end of his performance, he saluted his father, a gesture that moved him to tears. Understanding the sensitivity of the moment, Joost had previously requested not to be filmed as he left the stage. However, after his semi-finals performance, a camerawoman continued to film him despite his repeated requests to stop. Overwhelmed and seeking privacy, Joost made a gesture towards the camera to insist she cease filming, although he made no physical contact with her. The camerawoman, perhaps feeling personally affronted, chose to file a complaint.

The decision by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to withhold footage of Joost's alleged "threatening movement" has only fueled further speculation and confusion. Releasing this footage could have clarified the situation, potentially exonerating the artist and demonstrating that the decision to disqualify him was unrelated to this incident.
Instead, it appears the disqualification may be tied more closely to Joost's controversial remark about Israels participation in the song contest.

During a press conference, a Polish journalist asked the Israeli contestant, Golan, whether she thought her participation might pose a security risk to others, given Israel's ongoing military actions in Gaza, referencing the pro-Palestinian rallies in Malmo during the Eurovision Song Contest. Swedish presenter Jovan Radomir quickly intervened, informing Golan that she doesn't have to answer this question. It was at this moment that Joost Klein, interjected with a simple "Why not?", that challenged the avoidance of this delicate subject. This indicated his support for transparency and dialogue on difficult topics.

His disqualification followed shortly after this interaction, not immediately after the alleged threatening gesture made days earlier toward a crew member. Additionally, if a formal complaint has been filed with Swedish police, the EBU should have allowed the legal process to conclude before taking action. Presuming innocence until proven guilty is a fundamental principle that should have guided their actions.

[RobVespa]

This sounds unethical. I hope the singer sues Eurovision and wins. Full stop.

[iamasmokedchicken]

I think the crew member should be fired or at least have some consequences for disrespect to an artist, insubordination, and unprofessionalism, because she was asked to stop filming and didn't, and on top of that she also filmed him when she was told not to

WAIT THIS BLEW UP WHAT-

[Potamotrygorgeous]

By disqualifying Joost from participating in the final, the EBU declared him guilty even before the police investigation was completed. How is that decent and morally good behaviour....

Besides, if this anonymous camerawoman had simply respected other people's boundaries (something she herself, as a woman, probably shouts the loudest in life... hashtag metoo), none of this would have even happened. How is that decent and morally good behavior.

[annebokma]

Joost was disqualified because the ebu broke agreements and harrassed the aetist they were supposed to protect. And then punished the artist for the ebu failure.
ESC just died. Ebu needs to get sued big time

[EyesOfGehenna]

This camera person was repeatedly asked not to film and kept doing it against the agreements made. She was harrassing Joost with her camera and violated his private space by doing so. Now, he may have reacted unwisely at some point but I feel that a safe working environment is created together. On top of that, even if he did react in an unprofessional way, a reprimand would've been enough, but the EBU decided to cancel him out of fear of repercussions for themselves. And now their decision means that there is a new road created to influence the contest in an unprecedented way, because apparently you can get someone cancelled by filing a complaint and the EBU overreacting. '

Just think of making a mistake at work and your boss just firing you over it, before the investigation is completed to find out whether or not you crossed any legal boundaries.

[deadlyduck]

He didn't just ask not to be filmed, it was Agreed upon beforehand and thein violated. And Then he had to ask twice again.