In the last two years, the German musician has attracted attention mainly through hair-raising statements. Now he apologizes with a video.
Xavier Naidoo, here at a performance in Lucerne in 2017, has publicly apologized for his statements.
(dpa)
Singer Xavier Naidoo admitted in a video message on YouTube that he had gotten lost in conspiracy stories. “I have opened up to theories, perspectives and sometimes also groups, from which I distance myself without any ifs or buts and break away,” said the 50-year-old in the video, which was just over three minutes long and was published on his YouTube channel on Tuesday.
He was “blinded” by conspiracy stories, didn’t question them enough and let himself be “partially exploited”. “Unfortunately, I only now realized that. I said and did things that I regret today, »said the musician from Mannheim.
Judge-confirmed anti-Semite
In recent years, Xavier Naidoo has appeared with so-called Reichsbürger, spread theories of the QAnon movement and made controversial statements about the corona pandemic. Lines of text brought him accusations of racism, which the singer himself rejected. In December 2021, however, the constitutional court in Karlsruhe ruled that a speaker could call him an anti-Semite. In the past, Naidoo has also resisted criticism that he was close to right-wing extremist conspiracy stories.
Ukraine war as a trigger
Xavier Naidoo justified his change of heart with the war in Ukraine. “The world seems to have been turned upside down and I asked myself how it could have come to this.” He spoke a lot to those affected – and had to ask himself critical questions about statements, for which he was grateful.
“I have recognized the wrong paths I have sometimes found myself on and that I have made many mistakes in recent years.” He became aware that he had irritated and provoked his family, friends and fans with “disturbing statements, for which I would like to apologize,” said Naidoo.