“hard but fair”
What Plasberg thinks of his successor Klamroth
© WDR/Ansager & Schnipselmann/Julia Feldhagen
About a year ago, Frank Plasberg resigned from “hard but fair”. Today he is disappointed with his successor Louis Klamroth.
After more than two decades, Frank Plasberg, 66, hosted his show “hard but fair” for the last time last year. For 22 years, Plasberg led the political talk “very impressively,” his successor Louis Klamroth, 34, said goodbye to him in November 2022. However, the long-time moderator is apparently not equally impressed by his younger colleague today.
In the interview with the media magazine “DWDL” Plasberg first says that his farewell to “hard but fair” came at the “right time” for him. Things have been “really good” for him over the past year and it’s wonderful that the “basic noise from Monday to Monday” is gone. At the same time, however, he also misses “this wonderful team that I worked with for so long and which is now unfortunately falling apart.”
Things are tough behind the scenes
Plasberg is obviously alluding to the fact that he and Jürgen Schulte will no longer produce the political talk with their company Ansager & Schnipselmann in the future. It is “hard that we lose the production contract after 23 years,” explains Schulte. We learned of WDR’s decision in May. Klamroth stopped working with her company and never spoke to him or Plasberg about it: “He went to WDR. WDR informed us.” In the future, a newly founded company in which Klamroth was a co-partner would produce the show.
“I swore not to call my successor anything,” Plasberg replied fairly when asked whether he was personally disappointed. “It’s worked very well so far, although it’s becoming more and more difficult for me,” explains the moderator. There was hardly any contact with Klamroth after Plasberg’s last broadcast. They spoke “perhaps once or twice before we realized: He wanted a break.”
Above all, Plasberg is disturbed by “the manner”
But then he chooses somewhat harsher words. “For me personally, the departure was wonderfully successful, but unfortunately not for the company,” says Plasberg. “I had to be 66 years old to get to know someone who was so friendly on the surface and had such an approach.” He can understand Klamroth, but for him there is “a difference between having to create something new out of the ground and having a perfect team that has supported this format and that is prepared for joint renewal and further development. […] leaves behind in this way”.
Meanwhile, Schulte and Plasberg are not angry with the station. “It is clear that contracts are finite. This is the deal. […] That’s completely fair,” says the moderator. What was annoying, however, was “the way” everything happened.
The next edition of “hard but fair” will be on the first on December 11th from 9 p.m. It will be the last time that the Ansager & Schnipselmann team is behind the talk format. According to Schulte, we now want to “bring the whole thing to a proper conclusion. We owe it to ourselves, to ARD and, last but not least, to the viewers who have tuned in to us for 23 years.”