ON! chairman Arnold Karskens fired after complaints of transgressive behavior

Arnold Karskens has been dismissed as chairman and member of the board of directors at broadcaster Ongehoord Nederland (ON!). The supervisory board (rvt) of ON! announced this on Friday.

The founder and chairman Karskens had already been suspended on August 3. This was due to a “series of serious complaints within the organization about his performance”. On August 27, Karskens was then suspended as chairman of the board.

“This decision was made based on SVision's independent external investigation report, which was published on Monday, October 7, 2024, and confirms previous findings,” ON! The investigation report will be available for inspection from Monday. The main points and conclusions of the report will be explained by the chairman of the rvt, Bauke Geersing, in Tuesday's Ongehoord Nieuws program.

A group of six hundred members of ON! wanted the broadcaster to urgently hold a general meeting of members about the decision to definitively suspend Karskens. They submitted this request to the board in August. According to the members of ON!, it was the first meeting of members since the aspiring broadcaster was founded five years ago.

The complaints received about Karskens were about an “unsafe working atmosphere and a culture of fear”. ON! employees also felt that their “freedom of expression was restricted” and that Karskens had allegedly made “misogynistic remarks”.

The in-house investigation against Karskens divided the broadcaster: some employees of the broadcaster launched a petition to stand up for the 70-year-old. Others were happy to see him go. Among them is presenter Raisa Blommestijn, who left the station earlier this year because Karskens restricted her use of social media. After he was suspended, she returned, NOS reports.

In a press release, 70-year-old Karskens reacted with dismay to his dismissal. "This is an insult to me and all members from the very beginning," he says. Karskens thinks that the supervisors themselves should resign and says that the report "is flawed on all sides." Karskens is also considering legal action. On Tuesday, October 22, Karskens ' lawyer wants to file a complaint with the police with a request for prosecution for libel and defamation against the members of the supervisory board and the board of the broadcaster.