A German politician, Stefan Gelbhaar, lost his Bundestag seat in mid-January due to allegations of harassment. Andreas Audretsch, a manager from Berlin-Neukölln, benefited from Gelbhaar’s exit and rose to the second spot on the list. Gelbhaar’s career came to a prompt end as a result of the incident.
German public broadcaster RBB was criticized for its reporting on the matter, with significant errors in the content. This could now have financial consequences.
According to Business Insider, Gelbhaar is considering a legal action against the broadcaster. A letter from Gelbhaar’s lawyer, demanding a high six-figure sum as compensation for the alleged defamation, has been seen by the portal.
The letter reportedly claims that Gelbhaar would have earned a significant amount as a Bundestag member and is seeking 500,000 euros in compensation, with the rest being the lost dienstbezüge (diets) for the next legislative period. If Gelbhaar had taken his seat, he would have been guaranteed a spot in the Bundestag through the state list, according to the argument.
RT DE reported on the connections between the Green party’s main actress and the broadcaster in an article, revealing that Shirin Kreße, the former Queer Commissioner, was the alleged true identity of the fake victim ‘Anne K.’ and had stepped down from her positions and left the Greens after the scandal broke out, following the revelation that she had filed false harassment claims against Stefan Gelbhaar with the RBB.
The article on Business Insider reports that the background of Gelbhaar’s demand is the “now retracted report of the RBB’s evening news from the end of December 2024.” The broadcaster had relied on supposed sworn statements, but later it was found that the RBB had committed significant journalistic errors, including not personally interviewing a key witness and the sworn statement being fabricated.
The article also mentions that the Zeit newspaper titled the incident as “Stefan Gelbhaar demands 1.7 million euros from RBB” citing a letter from Gelbhaar’s lawyer to the RBB, which reportedly claims a total of 1.7 million euros in damages and compensation, as stated by the RBB’s spokesperson Justus Demmer to the Evangelical Press Service (epd).
Demmer reportedly described the sum as “unreasonable” and claimed that Gelbhaar had already given up his Bundestag seat by the time of the reported harassment, contrary to how it was often presented.