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The "Wendler" is officially history at RTL: The singer and entertainer had already left the jury of the casting show "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" in October 2020 with a scandal: Wendler accused the federal government of "gross and serious violations of the constitution" the corona crisis.
He also accused television stations - including RTL - of being "synchronized".
The broadcaster immediately distanced itself from its star and called Wendler a conspiracy theorist.
Terms such as “fake pandemic” and “media censorship” can still be read on Wendler's Instagram channel, and the 48-year-old is still active on the Telegram messenger service.
The singer, who now lives in the USA, has just made the headlines: he compared the new contact restrictions negotiated on Tuesday in Germany (including a 15-kilometer radius around the place of residence) with the operation of concentration camps on Telegram.
Not a good prerequisite for the new season of the entertainment show, the first episode of which aired on Tuesday.
Because juror Michael Wendler can of course still be seen there.
According to its own information, the broadcaster had already shot thirteen episodes with Wendler before the scandal broke out.
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To cancel his appearance entirely should have been impossible, after all, the jury members often make very specific decisions about individual candidates.
It is also about the fairness to the singers, who progressed or not because of his judgment, explained RTL itself.
So the broadcaster tried a kind of whimsical damage limitation and redesigned the consequences by changing editing techniques and whimsical recordings.
Malicious and unfavorable scenes
The station apparently wanted to distance itself from its protagonist through jokes, glee or the broadcast of particularly unfavorable scenes - but sometimes caused the opposite with the fans and observers of the show: The station was criticized on Twitter and Facebook and a clearer distance, sometimes even a broadcast stop of the high-quota format called for.
Others criticized the changes as ridiculous and inconsequential.
Now you can see, for example, how a jury comment from Wendler is played in fast forward, his jury colleague Mike Singer is shown yawning.
Elsewhere, the pop singer (“She loves the DJ”), who now lives in Florida, says that the Everglades cannot be compared to the Rhine, “but at least you won't be eaten by crocodiles here”.
An off-speaker adds dryly: "They don't take everyone either."
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Other places were supplemented by clips.
When a candidate declares, for example, that she does not have a job and that she lives off her parents, chief juror Dieter Bohlen is shown, who is basically: “People turn on the television or watch YouTube.
They see: everyone is celebrating, driving a Lamborghini, throwing the money out. ”Then photos of Wendler are faded in - with a motorcycle, in front of a boat, with a big cigar.
When another candidate says she is 18 years old, Wendler makes a note of something.
A fictitious checklist is displayed: "Female", "2 legs", "18".
Obviously a reference to Wendler's much younger wife Laura, now 20.
"He doesn't matter anymore"
Criticism of RTL came from the media magazine DWLD, among others: "Michael Wendler compares corona protective measures with concentration camps.
And RTL like this: We give it prime time, without classification or distancing, ”it said on the magazine's Twitter account.
RTL defended itself with the words: “We will not let a successful show destroy us by a conspiracy theorist.
The 13 casting episodes were shot before Michael Wendler made his strange statements.
After the casting episodes, he no longer plays a role - neither on DSDS nor on RTL. "
Numerous critical voices gathered under the tweet.
“I was missing a serious classification.
The bottom line is that you like to take the outcry for the quotas with you, but ignore the seriousness of the situation, "writes @Fabssomat.
“But you could have pointed it out several times in the program.
Or before and after the show.
Where's the problem? ”Asks @ MediaFreak7.
Others demand the aforementioned total waiver: "It's a shame that this program is broadcast at all," said @NiemalsD.
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The singer's tasteless comparison of concentration camps has apparently also reached politics.
The "Bild" newspaper quoted Hesse's anti-Semitism commissioner Uwe Becker (CDU) as saying: "Pop singer Michael Wendler does not belong on television with his Holocaust relativization and crude conspiracy theories.
With his most recent derailment to comment on the current corona rules, he has finally disqualified himself.
Anyone who equates the necessary measures to contain the corona pandemic in Germany with a concentration camp and thus relativizes the Shoah in such a way should not be presented as a juror to an audience of millions from week to week.
The justification given by RTL for castings that have already been shot is not enough. "
Good odds and a crooked clarification
The singer himself now distanced himself from the controversial comparison, according to “Bild” in a new Instagram post: by “KZ” he just meant “crisis center”, it said.
On Telegram the singer, whose real name is actually Michael Skowronek, had written under a screenshot of an article with the title: “Will a radius of movement for millions of Germans soon be decided?”: “KZ Deutschland ???
It's just bold what this government is doing!
The locking up of free and innocent people is against all human dignity !!! "
The ratings for the fresh season of "DSDS" remained at a high level.
Of the 14- to 49-year-olds, 1.38 million (16.0 percent) watched the RTL casting from 8.30 p.m.
In the total audience, the show reached 3.25 million (10.7 percent) viewers.