Actor
Til Schweiger praised the Belarus dictatorship and received criticism – now he is reacting
Til Schweiger was in Belarus to shoot a promotional video and then spoke highly of the country. Now he is trying to put his statements into perspective.
Til Schweiger is very familiar with criticism. Now, however, the director and film star was forced to take a stand himself. He recently traveled to Belarus for a commercial film that Schweiger directed. He then gave a press conference there, from which the state news agency BelTA published excerpts on YouTube.
Til Schweiger raves about Belarus
In it, Schweiger praises the country, which is known for its human rights violations, in the highest tones. “My impression is that it is a very clean and safe country,” said Schweiger. Whoever is responsible for PR for Belarus should be happy. “I like the people here, they are friendly and always smiling,” he continues. He had heard “the best things” about Belarus and was therefore curious to travel there himself.
Belarus is the closest ally of Putin’s Russia, the ruler Alexander Lukashenko is a close confidant of the Russian dictator and has been in power in Belarus for 30 years. He crushes protests in his own country, the opposition has little chance, and critics are sometimes imprisoned. But Schweiger has completely different feelings about Belarus. “I really like the food. We have a great hotel,” he said at the press conference. And further: “The film production even organized a doctor for me who gave me a vitamin infusion so that I felt like a new person.”
From “Lindenstraße” via Hollywood to “Tatort”: Til Schweiger and his eventful life
Til Schweiger grew up in Heuchelheim near Gießen with his parents – both teachers – and two brothers. Before he went to an acting school in Cologne in 1986, he tried German studies and later medicine at university. He dropped out of both courses. Luckily, a little later Schweiger celebrated his first successes as Jo Zenker in the hit series “Lindenstrasse”. From 1990 to 1992 he was seen in the ensemble of the ARD series – his springboard.
© Horst Galuschka / Imago Images
Statement on Instagram
After sharp criticism of his statements, the filmmaker is now rowing back with a statement on Instagram. “I recently attended a press conference to talk exclusively about my participation in an ad film campaign and share the creative work behind it with the audience. I was assured that the event would be completely focused on the ad and its content” , he writes there. “Unfortunately, I discovered that parts of the press conference were taken out of context and used to support messages that neither correspond to my beliefs nor my intentions,” said Schweiger.
Without going into detail about his statements, he draws a final conclusion. “To be clear: I have not supported any political or ideological stance associated with this material and I distance myself from it,” Schweiger said.
Sources: BelTA / Instagram
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Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
