After DSDS release: “I’m Michael Wendler, I’m not afraid”

Stand: 9:45 pm | Reading time: 4 minutes

SUBWAY“Hello, dear friends of intelligence” begins the first message that pop singer Michael Wendler sent to his new followers on Saturday on his channel “Telegram.” With “Good morning in the morning” he will not get in touch until “when democracy has returned,” he explains.

On Thursday, “the Wendler,” as his fans call him, surprisingly announced that he had left the “DSDS” jury. “I will withdraw from participating in the DSDS program with immediate effect,” he said in a video on his Instagram channel. That is a decision he made for himself.

In his Instagram story, he justified his departure with crude conspiracy theories. “I accuse the federal government of the supposed corona pandemic and the resulting measures for serious and serious violations of the constitution and the Basic Law (sic!),” He said in his account.

Almost all television stations are “complicit”, “aligned” and “politically controlled”. He repeated these accusations on Saturday, while at the same time emphasizing that he was not a conspiracy theorist. “I am Michael Wendler, I am not afraid!”

You may have lost advertising deals and place on “DSDS” – “So what?” He continued. It is ridiculous to threaten him with legal consequences. “I’m Michael Wendler, people! No one can destroy me ”.

RTL was completely shocked by Wendler’s statements, “both about the departure of” DSDS “and his conspiracy theories.” “We expressly distance ourselves from that.” For Wendler, it should be the first season on the “DSDS” jury. Filming had already started, but the new episodes had not yet aired.

The shock also washed over Wendler’s manager, Markus Krampe, who commented on the incident Thursday night with Oliver Pocher on “Pocher – Dangerously Honest.” Due to the sheer number of shows, ad offerings, and ultimately DSDS involvement, it was clear to Krampe that Wendler would be debt free by the end of the year. I didn’t know anything about the DSDS output until shortly before the video.

Wendler had called his coach beforehand and spoke confused: “It sounded like a call to me from someone calling you for the last time: ‘I’m finishing my career now, I’ll never go back to Germany. We will all die. I want to die a hero. Make sure you get to America, maybe you’ll get another chance then. You have always been a faithful companion, you have always worked well. ‘ The manager continued to refer to the incident as a “human tragedy.”

Three weeks ago, the manager noticed that something was wrong: “He was getting more and more brazen with his statements about Corona.” Krampe cannot understand why the musician considers the pandemic to be a conspiracy theory: “I have to say very clearly: For me it is sick, really sick.”

Conspiracy theorist Attila Hildmann, who was arrested again by police on Saturday during a rally, euphorically commented on Michael Wendler’s decision: “I am so proud of you Michael,” he wrote in capital letters on his Telegram channel.

In the Corona crisis, the Telegram messaging service is particularly popular. The loosely regulated platform is particularly popular with conspiracy theorists.

A little later, the Kaufland supermarket chain also took action and removed a commercial with Wendler from its social channels. “Our video with Michael Wendler was about fun and irony,” Kaufland wrote on Twitter. “However, the limit is reached when people play with the safety and health of people. Therefore, we have removed all content from Wendler and distanced ourselves from their statements. “

According to a report by “Heilbronner Voice”, Wendler charged 200,000 euros for the advertising deal that failed. Informed circles confirmed the amount to the German Press Agency on Friday. Some of the money also flowed. The supermarket chain declined to comment. Contractual agreements are generally treated confidentially.