Dutch singer Joost Klein allegedly made a threatening movement towards a camerawoman, causing him to be disqualified from the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 on the day of the Grand Final. The Swedish prosecutor has dropped the investigation due to lack of evidence.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Swedish prosecutor has dropped the investigation into a case against Dutch Eurovision participant Joost Klein due to lack of evidence.
Dutch singer Joost Klein, whose song 'Europapa' was one of the competition favourites, was disqualified from the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 on the day of the Grand Final in Malmö due to allegations of inappropriate behavior toward a Eurovision photographer backstage.
“Today I have closed the investigation because I cannot prove that the act was intended to cause serious fear or that the man had that intention,” stated senior prosecutor Frederik Jönsson in a press release.
According to the prosecutors in the case, the Dutchman allegedly made a threatening movement towards a camerawoman, causing her to fall, sustain minor injuries, and break her camera.
At the time, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) stated: “Joost’s behaviour was in clear breach of contest rules, which are designed to ensure there is a safe working environment for all staff and to protect the production.”
Joost Klein consistently denied having done anything wrong.
Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS, one of dozens of public broadcasters that collectively fund and broadcast the contest, said at the time it was “shocked by the decision."
AVROTROS welcomed the Swedish decision, saying that there was “no evidence of criminal conduct.”
"From the beginning we said that this disqualification was unnecessary and disproportionate” and it planned to meet with the organizer about the issue soon.
“This unjustified disqualification will be central to this conversation,” it said in a statement to The Associated Press.
Two months ago, Klein added the tag line, “Eurovision 2025” to his social media channels. This led to speculation he could attempt to participate in the contest again next year in Switzerland.
