Employees dissatisfied with broadcaster's response to Joost Klein's Eurovision expulsion

Not everyone at AvroTros is happy with how the broadcaster responded to Joost Klein’s disqualification from the Eurovision Song Contest final after he allegedly threatened a camera woman. AvroTros employees called it shocking that the broadcaster focused on downplaying the incident instead of making clear that threats and harassment are unacceptable, they said in a letter to management, the Telegraaf reports.

“The first thing AvroTros and Joost, in particular, should have done is apologize and make it clear that harassment, let alone threats, was never the intention. Joost’s expression of regret would have shown learning from lessons from previous incidents of inappropriate behavior within public broadcasting,” the employees said in the letter. AvroTros confirmed the letter to the newspaper.

Earlier this year, the Investigative Committee on Conduct and Culture of Broadcasters (OGCO) published a study showing that three in four employees at Dutch broadcasters have experienced inappropriate behavior, and the broadcasters fail to handle signals about this sufficiently professionally and decisively. The OGCO did not mention AvroTros by name, but it did say that transgressive behavior was a widespread issue in the sector.

The Eurovision incident happened on Thursday just after Klein concluded his Semi-Final performance at the Malmö Arena in Sweden. Sources told newspaper Aftonbladet that Klein became agitated by the crowd of photographers and videographers closing in on him and lunged towards one of them with a fist. Although he reportedly did not strike her, her camera was damaged and she was treated for a laceration, the newspaper reported.

AvroTros told the Telegraaf that Klein was filmed against “clear agreements” when he just came off stage. The broadcaster did not say what those agreements were. Typically, artists are filmed after their performance until their arrival in the dressing room. On Thursday, videos of all participating countries appeared on the song contest’s social media, except for the Netherlands.

Klein reportedly confessed during questioning and the local police believe they have a strong case against the Dutch performer. Prosecution appears to be imminent.

While disqualification may not be how Klein wanted his Eurovision journey to end, the incident has been very good for his brand, marketing expert Berend Klumper of 'Not Selling Liquid' told RTL Nieuws. Europa is currently in the top 10 most-listened songs in several countries and has around 52 million streams on Spotify, Klein’s YouTube clip has over 27 million views, and his Instagram followers have increased to 1.5 million people.

“I think that for Joost Klein - apart from the fact that it is, of course, very annoying - this is the best possible outcome in terms of brand awareness,” Klumper said. “He has gained a lot of followers, I think his number of followers has more than doubled. In addition, his name has been mentioned and passed on very often. That means that his name is also ‘buzzing’ in the minds of people who may not be interested in the Eurovision Song Contest at all. They now follow him and listen to his music.”