Studio knew about The Voice sex abuses for a long time, lawyer says

People in the management of ITV Studios, the company that produces The Voice of Holland, knew about the abuses at the program for a long time before the BOOS broadcast reported on it. That said Sebas Diekstra, who represents four victims of The Voice, on the television program Jinek on Wednesday evening.

According to him, John de Mol told Rick Brug, who is now in the management of ITV and previously worked at Talpa, about a complaint about abuses De Mol received in 2019.

Diekstra said that the 2019 complaint "was buried" partly at the hands of Rick Brug. "The press release that RTL and ITV were not aware of anything is therefore incorrect. That message set off all alarm bells for my clients. They no longer have confidence in ITV and do not take its approach seriously."

ITV asked the law firm Van Doorne to investigate the abuses. But according to Diekstra, victims do not dare to report to the firm. "The office does a great job but was hired by ITV, so you don't ultimately know what happens with that information and whether it's going to be used against you or not." ITV could not be reached for comment on Wednesday evening. 

Diekstra wants Mariette Hamer, the new government commissioner for sexually transgressive behavior, to urge the Cabinet to conduct an independent and impartial investigation into the abuses around The Voice of Holland. "Only by doing proper investigation can justice be done for the victims," Diekstra said previously. The lawyer fears that further hesitation in tackling the abuses will eventually lead to nothing being done.