Jan Josef Liefers: That’s how hard his career started

In a recent interview in the German edition of “Playboy”, Jan Josef Liefers (60) looked back on the beginnings of his career and denounced the grievances there. So at a young age he had to find a way to come to terms with these injustices and attacks until he was ready to defend himself. Back then, Liefers “experienced and noticed things that would make it to the ‘Stern’ or ‘Spiegel’ title today.” By this he primarily means abuse of power, “including sexualized attacks.” That didn’t feel “nice.”

At that time, however, such things went under the invisible heading “Apprenticeship years are not master years”. But Liefers doesn’t want these old times to be demonized across the board: “We grow from challenges, not from cuddles.” The MeToo movement in particular has declared war on “limitless male hedonism,” which is important. But: “The downside is that some men today think four times before paying a woman a compliment because it could backfire on him.” Nevertheless, he is confident that people will be able to “deal with each other without fear and appropriately” again.

This is what Jan Josef Liefers thinks about cancel culture

In the interview, Liefers also denounces the so-called cancel culture, i.e. the prejudgmental exclusion of people who are accused of, for example, offensive or discriminatory statements or actions. For him, that’s the wrong approach: “Although you’re clearing the way for your idea in the short term, you’re doing long-term damage to society.” Cancel culture is lack of freedom, according to the “Tatort” star. In his opinion, the framework should always be created by the laws and not by the activists.

“Cancelling is not something I believe in, I believe in the rule of law,” said the actor. He believes it is dangerous “to establish a second jurisprudence parallel to the judiciary, which is based on the spirit of the times and often changing moral concepts, where accusations are sufficient and evidence can be dispensed with, which no defense tolerates and in the end not with prison, but with exclusion , pillory and a high social price”. In his eyes, one cannot talk about diversity, but actually demand conformism. “I think that’s the mistake in thinking among these activists. But the Woke movement also has points that I find worthy of support,” Liefers continued.