Joost Klein, the Dutch musician who was kicked out of May’s Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden amid allegations of inappropriate behaviour, is no longer being investigated by the Swedish police.
Citing a lack of evidence, the Swedish public prosecutor’s office announced on August 12 that it would drop the investigation against Europapa singer.
At the time of his removal from the competition, a female photographer accused the Dutchman of acting in a threatening manner.
Klein has always denied the allegations and witnesses said they did not see anything threatening.
Senior prosecutor Fredrik Jönsson said in a press statement on August 12 that the investigation concluded that Klein made “a movement that hit the woman’s film camera,” but that “the course of events was fast and was perceived differently by the witnesses of the incident.”
“I believe that I cannot prove that he did it to threaten her. I can only show that the intention was to influence the filming, he simply did not want to be filmed,” Jönsson concluded.
Via his manager, Klein reacted, saying: “The last few months have been incredibly difficult. Although we enjoy performing all around the world, it didn’t feel quite right.”
“As a team, we are extremely happy and relieved that this uncertain period has now come to an end. Finally, we can say it out loud: there was never any reason for this case.”
Klein was perceived as one of the favourites to win the international contest with his song Europapa, an ode to Europe and its diversity.
The alleged camera incident caused the organisation to disqualify him — an unprecedented move in the 68-year history of Eurovision.
Klein’s disqualification sparked international outrage, with spectators both at home and at the Swedish host venue vociferously expressing their disagreement with the decision.
Broadcaster AvroTros, responsible for the Dutch entry, even discussed boycotting the competition altogether.
“We have also just learned that the criminal investigation against Joost Klein by the Swedish Public Prosecution Service has been discontinued because there is no evidence of criminal conduct,” AvroTros wrote in a statement.
“From the beginning we have said that this disqualification was unnecessary and disproportionate and that is now what it appears to be.”
The broadcaster said it now wanted to hold talks with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) about Joost’s “deeply disappointing” and “unjustified disqualification.”
“We will also discuss all our other objections about the way things were going behind the scenes at the song contest, which we previously sent to the EBU in an extensive letter of objection and which have remained unanswered to date. AvroTros’ position is and remains that the song contest is about artists and their musical message. The EBU now has the floor,” AvroTros said.
On his official Instagram account, Klein reacted by posting dancing dogs on his reel, with the hit song Who Let the Dogs Out?
Despite the controversy, Europapa became a smash hit. It was downloaded extensively on streaming services. The song got 140 million downloads on Spotify, more than double that of the eventual winner of the contest, Nemo.
"I'm a queer and I'm a witch!"
Ireland Eurovision entry, Bambie Thug, sparks controversy and bemusement with pagan-themed performance.#Eurovision #Eurovision2024 pic.twitter.com/ZEaC2rUTb6
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) May 10, 2024
