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Boateng Film From ARD Draws Fresh Criticism Over Edited Interviews

Interview subjects say their portrayal misleads, reflecting a dispute over the film’s editorial choices.

Overview

  • Multiple contributors—Gabriela Keller, Gizem Çelik and lawyer Alexander Stevens—say their interviews were heavily edited or stripped of critical context, and they now distance themselves from the film.
  • Stevens alleges about 95% of his comments were cut; Keller says only “three, four very general sentences” remained; Çelik says her “clear words” were omitted.
  • Çelik contends she was not told Jérôme Boateng would appear, a claim ARD disputes, saying interviewees were informed that Boateng had been approached.
  • An internal ARD/BR “community management” memo anticipated prominent critics in the series, yet those named say their sharper remarks barely feature.
  • ARD defends the series as differentiated and multiperspective as backlash grows over a licence-fee-funded platform for Boateng, whose case ended in 2024 with a warning that avoids a criminal record unless he reoffends and whose ex-partner Kasia Lenhardt died by suicide in 2021.