Moderator Maurice Gajda (40), who was recently dismissed from broadcaster RTL due to a fake allegation, has now commented on the matter for the first time. On his official Instagram account, Gajda published a lengthy statement in which he acknowledged his omissions in the matter. On the other hand, he continues to claim to have seen the alleged tweet from AfD politician Frauke Petry.
He had “taken the last week to reflect and collect myself after a lot has been written about me, I’m really sorry if I disappointed you,” he first explains in the comment section of the post why he is is only now taking a stand. In the actual text, he then concedes: “Did I, in that case, make serious technical mistakes? Yes, I did!”
However, Gajda clarifies that he did not do this on purpose. And he is also aware of his journalistic duty of care – so he has to “bear the consequences of my actions and I will too!”
At the same time, he is absolutely convinced: “What I saw, I saw, but: The burden of proof is on me, I can’t provide it, so I issued a cease-and-desist declaration. I stand by it.” Finally, he apologizes to his “former employer” whom he “damaged”.
The background to the dismissal was a contribution from the program “Explosiv Weekend” from August 5, 2023. In it, Gajda read an alleged tweet from the former AfD politician Frauke Petry (48), in which she allegedly spoke racistly about the singer Trong Hieu Nguyen ( 31) is said to have expressed. This had taken part in the German preliminary round of the Eurovision Song Contest.
According to Gajda, the tweet was deleted again – but he was unable to provide conclusive proof that it ever existed. Petry then resisted on her X account: “RTL impressively demonstrates how to deal with politically uncomfortable people here. You think up a racist tweet, a graphic designer implements it and the fake is done.”
Martin Gradl, the co-managing director of “RTL News”, then apologized to Petry and explained: “We got to know Maurice Gajda as a committed and passionate reporter. In this case, however, there are numerous blatant violations of journalistic due diligence.”
