German artists sign open letter against TV show host accused of sexism Choice of Thilo Mischke, author of Around the World In 80 Women, for ARD’s flagship arts show criticised.
In the open letter, high-profile members of the German-language arts scene including bestselling authors Saša Stanišic, Margarete Stokowski and Anne Rabe, actor Julius Feldmeier of Netflix’s Kleo and Austrian photographer Stefan Draschan said they were “appalled” by the hiring of Mischke and would boycott ttt until it dropped him.
Broadcaster ARD said in late December it had picked author Thilo Mischke, 43, to co-moderate its flagship arts show , ttt – Titel, Thesen, Temperamente (Titles, Theses, Temperaments), after veteran host Max Moor stepped aside.
More than 100 prominent German writers and artists have signed an open letter refusing to appear on one of the country’s top culture programmes on public television after it announced a new host accused of sexism and racism in his writing.
The choice immediately prompted criticism when a feminist podcast by journalists Annika Brockschmidt and Rebekka Endler spotlighted what they called misogyny, racism, ableism and homophobia in books Mischke had published over the years as well as in a series of recent comments.
