RTL has now hit back: Two days after the forgery allegations against “explosive” moderator Maurice Gajda (40) became known, the German TV broadcaster has now announced his immediate termination.
Maurice Gajda featured a tweet by former AfD boss Frauke Petri (48) in an “explosive” post, which he never published and claimed it would be removed again. It added that Petrie wrote in relation to singer Trần Hiếu Nguyễn, who participated in the German preliminary round for the ESC Eurovision Song Contest: “I don’t think any normal German pink-faced Asian wants to see ESC But.” A screenshot of the alleged tweet has been attached. Looks like Petrie published it.
After this, RTL started an internal investigation, but no evidence of the said tweet was found. “We apologize to Dr. Petry. We knew Maurice Gajda to be a dedicated and passionate journalist. However, in this case, there are several clear violations of journalistic due diligence. They interfere with the important and responsible work of our approximately 1,300 journalists.” With its news and magazines, RTL News stands for the credibility, truthfulness and care of every day journalism,” Martin Gradl, co-managing director of RTL, said in a statement.
