Europapa Joost: police drop case, Eurovision stands by disqualification

The case against Joost Klein in Malmö, in which he was accused of threatening a Eurovision camerawoman, was dropped by the prosecutor in mid-August. According to the Swedish authorities, there is insufficient evidence to support the charge that Klein physically threatened the woman.

Klein's "threatening movement" towards the woman, without touching her or the camera, has been proven, the prosecutor states. However, "the events followed each other too quickly and the statements of witnesses diverged, which makes it impossible to prove there was a threat or that the man had that intention [of a physical threat]," Malmö authorities stated.

Joost Klein was disqualified just hours before the Eurovision Song Contest final on May 11 due to the aforementioned incident behind the scenes. Now that local authorities have dismissed the case, the question arises whether Eurovision should have disqualified Klein in the first place.

At the time of his disqualification, Joost Klein was one of the favorite candidates for Eurovision 2024 - at least, if you were to believe the streaming platforms. His song 'Europapa' was played millions of times on platforms like Spotify and YouTube.

Photo: behind the scenes during the recording of the video of 'Europapa', via Avrotos.

The investigation into the infamous incident, which according to insiders lasted only minutes, kept Joost Klein's team in suspense from May 11 to August 12. Klein's lawyer wanted to hear additional witnesses from the Netherlands, making it an international case. This may have delayed the proceedings. Whether the Dutch witnesses were decisive in closing the case is not clear.

The Dutch rapper is said to have argued with a camerawoman who filmed him against the agreement he made with the organization. The incident happened on May 9 after his performance in the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest.

In response to being filmed, Joost made an angry hand gesture towards the camerawoman. Both the Dutch broadcaster Avrotros and Klein himself confirmed this fact, but they countered the argument of the employee that the gesture was threatening.

Two days after the incident, just before the final of the Eurovision Song Contest, its organizer EBU announced that the 26-year-old Dutch singer was disqualified because he was under investigation for inappropriate behavior by the police.

Image: Corinne Cumming / EBU

The EBU statement said: "The Swedish police have investigated a complaint made by a female member of the production crew following an incident after [Joost Klein]'s performance in Thursday night's semi-final. While the legal process takes its course, it would not be appropriate for him to continue in the Contest."

Image: Corinne Cumming / EBU

The organization repeatedly stressed that it took the incident very seriously: "We have a zero-tolerance policy towards inappropriate behavior at our event and are committed to providing a safe working environment for all Eurovision Song Contest staff. In light of this, Joost Klein's behavior towards a team member is considered to be in breach of the competition rules."

He looked so happy - and at the end vulnerable - on stage that night of the semi-final. How could he possibly lose his temper, moments later, in such a way that he got disqualified?

Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU

Klein's Eurovision song 'Europapa' goes from festive to serious when he addresses his deceased father in a short monologue at the end of the song. It is an emotional piece in which the singer is visibly moved.

As Avrotros director Taco Zimmerman revealed on the afternoon of May 11, Klein had requested that camera people from Eurovision organizer EBU not film him in the first moments after the performance. For some reason, that request was not honored.

When Klein noticed that one of the cameramen was filming him right after his performance, he reportedly made a "threatening gesture" towards the camera. "But nothing more than that," Zimmerman said. "In doing so, Joost did not touch the camerawoman."

Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU

Nevertheless, the Eurovision producer found the gesture violent enough to call the police. In addition, they disqualified the Dutch contestant.

It was the first time in the contest's 68-year history that a competitor was disqualified after the five-day event had begun. Sometimes an act is disqualified before Eurovision week because of a song lyric, as in the case of Belarus in 2021, or because they failed to pay their membership fees, as in the case of Romania in 2016.

Broadcaster Avrotros called the decision "disproportionate". On X they wrote: "We have taken note of the disqualification by the EBU. Avrotros finds the disqualification disproportionate and is shocked by the decision. We deeply regret this and will come back to it later."

Photo: Avrotros / Instagram

In his oral statement to the press, Avrotros director Taco Zimmerman said his team had tried to talk to the EBU about different solutions for Klein's alleged violation of the competition rules. However, they could not reach an agreement with the EBU or even get in touch with the camerawoman involved in the incident.

"We did everything we could to get Joost on stage tonight," Zimmerman said. They spoke to the EBU to have Klein "publicly apologize and make a statement, for example," according to the Telegraaf. But the EBU stuck to disqualification, according to Zimmerman.

Zimmerman stressed that Avrotros considers the disqualification a "very severe and disproportionate" punishment and that he will appeal to the EBU. "We stand for good manners, let there be no misunderstanding about that," he said. "But a measure of exclusion is in our view disproportionate to this incident."

Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU

Malmö police confirmed that a man had been reported for 'unlawful threats' at Malmö Arena. "The police have taken all essential investigative measures and questioned the suspect, the accuser, and witnesses," a spokesperson said.

Joost Klein was allowed to return to the Netherlands and perform again. However, the trial hampered his international plans.

Image: Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU

As his team told the AD: "The last few months have been tough. Although we love performing all over the world, it didn't feel quite right."

"We, as a team, are incredibly happy and relieved that this uncertain period has now come to an end," Klein's management continued in the AD. "We can finally say it out loud: there was never a reason for this case."

Image: Corinne Cumming / EBU

The EBU states in response to the Swedish ruling that it stands by its decision to disqualify the 'Europapa' singer. While the police conducted a "formal investigation into whether a criminal offense had been committed," it says, the EBU's concern was "whether Mr Klein had behaved inappropriately and violated the rules and procedures of the ESF. This new development ... has no bearing on our decision, which we fully support."

Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett / EBU

Avrotros is not satisfied with the explanation of the EBU and maintains its formal complaints with the organization. According to a statement from the broadcaster to the Dutch press agency ANP, the EBU has still not spoken directly to Avrotros about the events in May.

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