EBU Takes a Stand on Joost Klein Incident and Backstage Escalations

Following Joost Klein’s admission of his unlawful and violent behavior towards a female SVT employee, resulting in his expulsion from this year’s Eurovision Song Contest final, the EBU has released a new statement addressing the issue.

The Dutch artist Joost Klein was excluded from the Grand Final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest following threatening behavior directed at a female member of the production team. Swedish police have investigated the offense, and the case will soon be handed over to the prosecutor for expedited proceedings.

Joost’s behavior was a clear violation of the Contest’s rules, designed to ensure a safe working environment for all staff and to protect the production. While we do not prejudge the legal process, given the circumstances and the fact that the police investigation will be handed over to the prosecutor shortly, it would not have been appropriate for Joost to participate in the Grand Final.

The decision to exclude him was supported by the governing bodies of the Contest – the Eurovision Song Contest’s Reference Group and was unanimously endorsed by the EBU Executive Board, following a thorough internal investigation.

The version of events circulated in some public comments and on social media does not correspond to the reports shared with us and the Swedish Police by staff and witnesses. However, the matter is now subject to legal proceedings, and unfortunately, we cannot comment further at this stage.

We maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards inappropriate behavior at our events and will always take necessary measures to address threats to staff – from whoever they may originate.

However, Joost Klein’s incident wasn’t the only irregular behavior in the Contest’s premises. In light of the escalations that occurred during the past week among various delegations and the complaints received, the EBU issued a relevant announcement:

“We regret that some delegations at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö didn’t respect the spirit of the rules and the competition both onsite and during their broadcasts,

We spoke to a number of delegations during the event regarding various issues that were brought to our attention.

The EBU’s governing bodies will, together with the heads of delegations, review the events surrounding the ESC in Malmö to move forward in a positive way and to ensure the values of the event are respected by everyone.

Individual cases will be discussed by the event’s governing body, the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group made up of representatives from participating broadcasters, at its next meeting.”

While Eurovision 2024 may have already concluded, it seems that the controversies of the competition will follow us for many months to come… We will monitor the situation and keep you updated on any developments.

Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the latest updates!