Hallervorden defends itself against allegations of racism in Sketch

Dieter Hallervorden defends himself against allegations of racism after a controversial new edition of his most famous sketch on television. “In the absence of courage to get excited about the real grievances, because they are not in fashion, you can get over a comedian who sits on a jail bed and starts a famous sketch with a new text”the actor and comedian of the German Press Agency said on request.

Hallervorden had his legendary on Saturday evening in an ARD anniversary show “Palim, Palim!”-Sketch demonstrated -but in a slightly modified version, in which he “N-word” and that “Z-word” used. As a result, the 89-year-old triggered a partly excited debate, especially on social media.

With the term “N-word” a racist name for black people earlier in Germany is described earlier in Germany. The “Z-word” stands for a name for Sinti and Roma, which was also used earlier in Germany. The Central Council of German Sinti and Roma rejects the word as discriminatory.

In the program presented by Kai Pflaum “75 years of ARD – the big anniversary show” Hallervorden performed the sketch with his acting partner Harald Effenberg in a stage version of a prison cell. Sitting in the bunk bed, Hallervorden’s figure tells the other inmate why he sits: because he used the names for chocolate and sauce of Hungarian.

In front of the television audience, HalleVersen expresses those words that are now considered racist or discriminatory. “If I had known that you no longer say that …”lets Hallervorden say his figure and expresses the two words immediately afterwards.

The apparently targeted use of the two words caused an excited debate on social media. Some users accused Hallervorden racism, others praised him for what they think was courageous.

Hallervorden defends his appearance as a satire. “Woke people of today try anxiously not to dance out of line, meticulously follow all social media bids in order not to risk likes and no longer understand satire because satire is no longer occurring for fear of misunderstandings”he continued.

The ARD also commented on Hallervorden’s appearance on the DPA request and shared: “In his role as a prisoner, he exaggerated the change in language and used terms that are no longer up to date for good reasons – but were deliberately set as a provocation in this satirical context.” The public service broadcaster emphasized that ARD speaks out against every racism and stands for diversity and freedom of art.