There are signs of another change at the top of the crisis-ridden ARD broadcaster Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (RBB). RBB director Katrin Vernau said on Thursday at the request of the German Press Agency that program director Jan Schulte-Kellinghaus had “offered to end his contract and waive his post-contractual pension entitlement”.
The online portal “Business Insider” had previously reported. Vernau added: “We are still in discussion about the conditions under which a contract could be terminated.”
At the center of the RBB scandal are the director Patricia Schlesinger, who was fired without notice, and the resigned chief controller Wolf-Dieter Wolf. Since the end of June, allegations of nepotism and cronyism have been reported in the media, both of which have rejected the allegations. The Berlin Attorney General is investigating. Vernau is interim director and should lead the station out of the crisis.
The directors around Schlesinger, some of whom are still active today, also came under criticism at the top of the public broadcaster. This also includes Schulte-Kellinghaus. It was not until February 2022 that he was confirmed for a second term and thus five more years. He has been program director since 2017. Pension regulations for executives were also part of the criticism in the RBB crisis. This means that they would also be entitled to money if they no longer work for the station but are not yet of retirement age.
