Berlin’s state TV station Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg has agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to a former Greens politician whom it had falsely accused of sexual harassment.
Ex-Greens MP Stefan Gelbhaar had sued RBB for € 1.7 million over the allegations. He had also lost his lucrative seat in the German parliament as a result of the campaign against him.
According to local newspaper Berliner Zeitung, RBB and Gelbhaar reached an out-of-court settlement in which the TV station would pay about half of the amount originally demanded, a sum “in the high six digits”.
RBB also promised to never again report on the own false allegations and to formally beg for Gelbhaar’s pardon.
In a joint press statement, both described their negotiations as “respectful” and “successful for both parties”.
Gelbhaar said: “RBB showed understanding and then dealt with the conflict in a very reasonable and structured way during our negotiations.”
The settlement and the considerable legal fees would be ultimately paid for by German citizens.
That was because RBB would use its income from the country’s mandatory household TV tax to pay for the costs, as reported by Berliner Zeitung.
Every German household has to pay €18.36 per month for the country’s burgeoning public broadcasting sector, irrespective of whether they watch state TV or even own a TV set.
RBB – which employed almost 3,000 people – currently received almost €450 million annually in TV tax income, more than 82 per cent of its total budget.
Marcus Pretzell, a libertarian politician and former Alternative for Germany (AfD) MEP, called the affair “unbelievable” and said it should result in criminal prosecution.
“Why isn’t a public prosecutor investigating this?” Pretzell asked in a post on X.
German columnist Niklas Liebtrau called it “a scandal of its own” that RBB was not disclosing how much its internal mistakes had cost the TV taxpayers.
Brussels Signal reached out to RBB for a response but was informed that as part of the settlement the TV station would not comment on the issue in any form aside from the official joint press statement.
Gelbhaar told German media that following the settlement he would probably start working as a lawyer again.
He was a Greens MP from 2017 to 2025 but lost his seat after RBB aired a piece on 31 December 2024 in which he was accused of sexual misconduct by several women.
As it later turned out, these allegations were completely falsified, with one of the key witnesses presented by RBB turning out to be non-existent.
According to rumours quoted by the German press, the allegations may have been part of an internal party campaign to give Gelbhaar’s place in the Bundestag to Andreas Audretsch, former aide to Greens party vice chancellor Robert Habeck.
Gelbhaar’s lawyer told German media: “It is clear that this is a politically motivated smear campaign by some left-wing representatives of the party and the Green Youth.”
