DR has cut participants Allan Beier and Katrine Asthing from the upcoming season of “Gift ved første blik”. The two are now publicly criticizing the broadcaster’s handling of the case.
According to reporting by DR, the couple was edited out of this year’s season after what the broadcaster calls new information. Anne Garlichs, head of external television at DR, announced the decision earlier this week and stressed that it did not involve criminal matters.
Beier and Asthing describe the process as turbulent and hard, and say they feel let down. Asthing says the process was poor and that the case was not handled properly at any stage.
The two say they were married on 4 May and decided in June to stay married. They are no longer a couple, but describe their relationship during filming as loving and say they remain close friends.
Two weeks after filming ended, the production company and DR contacted them, according to their account. Per Beier, the production had received an anonymous email with serious allegations that he had subjected women in his past to psychological and physical violence and offensive behavior. He says he does not recognize any of it and that the accusations are without substance.
Beier says anonymous senders have previously contacted his former workplaces with serious accusations, which he describes as harassment. He says he informed DR about this during the casting process. He says he does not know who is behind the approaches.
Lawyer investigation preceded the decision
Beier says he consented to DR and the producer having a lawyer examine the allegations and contact his former employers and collaborators. That took about two weeks, the pair says, and neither the production company nor DR contacted him during that period. Both say they have never seen the anonymous email.
Beier says his former employers have told him they gave DR nothing that should have led to the couple being cut. He says he believes the broadcaster feared bad headlines and acted on a thin basis. Asthing says he was given no chance to defend himself, and that she was left without support after being married to him on the program.
The pair says they went public because DR’s press release on Monday, which did not name them, left them unable to respond before their names circulated. They now hope DR will look inward and apologize.
Garlichs declined an interview with DR Nyheder and answered in writing instead. She says DR has great understanding for the situation and has offered the two psychological help, an offer that still stands. DR does not share their account of the process.
Per Garlichs, DR held thorough deliberations after filming and obtained enough information for an overall editorial assessment that only eight participants should feature this year. Had DR known the information during casting or before filming, it would not have proceeded with the participant, she says.
DR’s press department and Garlichs declined to specify what the information was. The broadcaster says it will review its casting and screening processes. The season now runs to seven episodes instead of eight and premieres on DR1 and DRTV on September 3.
