Anouk Teeuwe has quit The Voice of Holland. The 46-year old singer announced her decision on Instagram after a major scandal emerged in the Netherlands regarding sexual misconduct by several crew members of the talent show. In a one minute video, she announces that she longer wishes to be part of a show where “people have systematically looked the other way”.
The Voice of Holland
Yesterday morning, broadcaster RTL suddenly announced that the latest season of The Voice of Holland would be put on hold after the second episode, which aired on Friday. Journalist Tim Hofman had informed them of several allegations of sexual misconduct by crew members of The Voice. As a result, the broadcaster and production company ITV decided to start an investigation into the allegations before continuing the current season. Hofman’s show #BOOS will air this Thursday. In the show, several victims will share their experiences on The Voice of Holland.
Soon after RTL’s announcement, band leader of The Voice of Holland, Jeroen Rietbergen, issued a statement. In the statement, he admits to years of sexual misbehaviour. According to newspaper AD, he would promise contestants that he would make sure they’d advance to the next round in exchange for sexual activities. Later that afternoon, Dutch police confirmed that a victim had filed an official report against Ali B. The rapper has been a coach on The Voice for nine seasons. He however denied all allegations on his Instagram account.
Tim Hofman and BNN-VARA, his broadcaster, later announced that more crew members would be mentioned in Thursday’s show. The news has sparked a heated debate in the country over the abuse of power by people in the entertainment industry, especially as there already have been several cases of claims of sexual misconduct by singer Marco Borsato. Borsato was a judge on The Voice from 2011 until 2015. Claims against him also include underage victims.
Anouk: “It’s a corrupt mess”
Anouk, who represented The Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest 2013, was the last of the coaches and hosts to comment on the matter. In her video, she says she wanted to wait until she had seen the #BOOS episode. However, she has now made up her mind after reading the Jeroen Rietbergen statement, as well as several telephone calls.
The news is so saddening and a major disappointment. I know enough. I’ve decided I don’t want to return to The Voice. It’s a corrupt mess. I don’t want to work at a place where men have, for years, abused their positions and where others have chosen to keep the misconduct silent and look the other way. You just can’t do that. You’ve got structural issues when you do that. I do not wish to be part of such behaviour, that’s just not me. So therefore, I will not return to The Voice of Holland.
Anouk on Instagram.
Teeuwe had been a coach on The Voice of Holland since season 6, in 2015. Her talents managed to win the show on no less than three ocassions, including the last two seasons with Sophia Kruithof and Dani van Velthoven. Previously, the show has had some famous names taking part, such as Eurovision winner Duncan Laurence back in 2014. Besides Anouk, several other Eurovision stars have made an appearance on the judging panel. They include Glennis Grace, Waylon, Ilse DeLange, Trijntje Oosterhuis and 2021 host Jan Smit.
Glennis, Waylon and Chantal respond
Yesterday, fellow coach and 2005 Eurovision entrant Glennis Grace also made her feelings clear on Instagram. The singer is new to The Voice and had only joined the panel this season, but commented by stating she was “shocked” by the allegations. Waylon, a two-time Eurovision entrant, has issued a statement with similar wordings. His management commented by saying the 41-year old was “deeply saddened” by the news and they wish to reiterate that none of the allegations had anything to do with Waylon himself.
Besides Anouk, the strongest statement came from host Chantal Janzen – also not a stranger in the Eurovision world as she hosted the Rotterdam contest in 2021. She posted several Instagram stories with the following statement:
To those who apparently knew about the sick and twisted practices for about ten years already, went silent about them and tried to cover them up, who now all respond by saying you’re so “shocked”: Please leave those words to the victims. Yes, I’ve only been the host of The Voice for two years now and I just read in the media that, apparently, I “can’t really say much about the matter”: No, it has now become clear that there is a whole lot I do NOT know about this show. But two years is long enough for me to know that there are people, a lot of people, who work on this show with a good heart and conscious mind. They all work so hard. They have a heart for this show. It is embarrassing and sad [that things have been swept under the carpet for so long]. It’s time to stop covering things up. Everything needs to be out in the open. The victims and their families come first and then there’s a big, big gap before we need to care about anyone else, such as the hard-working employees and others who may have been affected. THEY are shocked!
Chantal Janzen
Following the allegations, head sponsors T-Mobile and Lidl have decided to stop supporting the show. #BOOS, which will feature the allegations, will air on YouTube this coming Thursday.
More news on the scandal surrounding The Voice of Holland will be released in due course. As soon as there’s more info surrounding any of the Eurovision related people, we will bring it to you. Follow @ESCXTRA on on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube.
