The scandal surrounding this year's Semper Opera Ball in Dresden continues. Mareile Höppner (42) will not take over the moderation. She canceled again because of "worst hatred and hostility", as she writes on Instagram. "I was asked to take over the Semper Opera Ball. In a very difficult phase. It should be an evening for Dresden. For the city and the people. They mean so much to me. Especially now," Höppner begins her post.
"Even my child wasn't stopped"
"After all the scandals and the very justified criticism of the selection of an award winner, I was hoping that I could design this evening for a new sign, for an evening in the spirit of our good democratic values." But some reactions would have "crossed every border," said the 42-year-old. "I have now become the victim and target of the worst hatred and hostility. Even my child was never stopped."
She draws conclusions: "That's why I withdraw from the planned moderation of the ball. I wish my colleague Roland Kaiser a lot of strength for this evening. I expect the person responsible for the ball to finally set new standards."
MDR is behind Höppner
The broadcaster MDR, which will broadcast the Semper Opera Ball on February 7, has already published a statement on Höppner's cancellation. "Mareile Höppner has informed us that she has experienced an unbearable level of hatred and threats over the past few days. Therefore, she will not moderate this year's Semper Opera Ball. (…) We at MDR are shocked by the extent of the brutalization. Nothing justifies such agitation in the slightest, "says the MDR side.
Respect "Höppner's decision" and "have offered her legal support. Ms. Höppner has already filed a complaint". The transmitter is sticking to the transmission. "We do not allow individual radical voices on the Internet to influence our work. (…) We have made our criticism of the honor of the Egyptian ruler al-Sisi very clear in our program in recent days (…) ". "The future transmission of the ball will then be critically examined internally".
The award of the highly controversial Egyptian ruler Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (65) with the golden order of St. George had set the ball rolling. As a result, "Tagesschau" spokeswoman Judith Rakers (44), who was supposed to moderate the ball with Roland Kaiser (67), asked for the termination of her contract. Kaiser should continue to lead through the evening.