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Moderator Steffen Hallaschka has apologized for statements in the WDR program "The Last Instance" after allegations of racism.
"I have to painfully realize how many people experienced our talk 'The last instance' as massively hurtful and racially discriminatory," wrote Hallaschka in a Facebook post on Monday.
Being at the center of allegations of racism "hits me hard".
"I sincerely apologize to those who have found the program hurtful."
In the panel discussion by the moderator Hallaschka, the guests Micky Beisenherz, Thomas Gottschalk, Janine Kunze and Jürgen Milski discussed current social issues, including the question: "The end of the gypsy sauce: Is that a necessary step?" The guests were given a green card agree and vote against with a red card.
All four guests held up the red card.
The program was broadcast on Friday evening as a repeat.
Afterwards, many viewers on Twitter were indignant about the fact that the guests had dealt with the topic of everyday racism “without empathy”, “uncritically” and “naively” and had defended racist terms.
The fact that only white guests were invited to a discussion about racism was also heavily criticized.
The focus was particularly on a statement by Kunze who said that she had "never thought about many words".
“Think of me as naive, no, they are part of it,” she continued.
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There was also harsh criticism of Thomas Gottschalk, who stated that he first experienced "how a black person feels" at a costume party in Los Angeles wearing a Jimi Hendrix disguise.
“The last instance” moderator criticizes the level of the debate
Hallaschka wrote on Facebook that he “intervened in many places where the use of language can be perceived as discriminatory”.
But he did not intervene resolutely enough.
"I would have liked the course of our discussion to be different." The lesson of the show is for him: "Socially, we are obviously not yet where we thought we were the year after 'Black Lives Matter'.
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The moderator emphasized, however, that he could not see any "openly insulting intent" in any of his guests.
He also criticized “the inhuman level” that “has flared up in many places in the debate over the past few days”.
It undermines every legitimate concern if its guests are denigrated as "junk people" or insulted sexistically.
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Actress and presenter Janine Kunze ("Janine Krause") and presenter Micky Beisenherz also apologized for the program.
“It became clear to me that I have deeply hurt and discriminated against people, especially those of the Sinti and Roma community, with my careless statements,” wrote Kunze on Sunday on Instagram.
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Beisenherz said on Monday in his podcast "Apocalypse and filter coffee": "If I have disappointed people, then I am truly sorry, because I do not want that."
Kunze wrote in her statement on Sunday that as a mother of three children, she should be more enlightened.
She will rethink her choice of words in the future.
“It is my wish that we learn from each other”.
She provided her statement with the sketchy image of a heart.
Beisenherz said in his podcast that he should have reacted more vehemently to many problematic statements on the show.
"I understand that and I'll take that with me for the next time."
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On Sunday, the broadcaster had admitted errors: The program did not go "as we planned and imagined".
In the “last resort”, controversial issues should be discussed in an entertaining way, and each guest is of course allowed to express their opinion.
"But in retrospect, it is clear to us: With such a sensitive topic, people who bring other perspectives and / or are directly affected should definitely have participated in the discussion," the statement said.
"We have learned from this in any case," said a WDR spokeswoman for the German press agency.
Beisenherz became clearer: "When there are four potatoes sitting and voting on racism with cards, then something is essentially wrong, you simply can't do that," he said in his podcast. As a society, one is much further than "seriously discussing this damn schnitzel in 2021 and saying that I really want to use the Z word when I order."