Wendler reacts to the cancellation of RTL2 and announces a statement

In response to the cancellation of his new docu-soap by RTL2, pop singer Michael Wendler has announced a statement. "Unfortunately, after a firm commitment and contractual agreement, RTL2 decided today not to film our new show after all," Wendler wrote on Twitter on Thursday night. “There remain many question marks. I will comment on this as soon as possible.”

RTL2 announced on Tuesday that it wanted to bring Wendler back to the screens. A docu-soap about the singer and his pregnant wife Laura was planned. However, the announcement was immediately met with widespread criticism and sharp counter-reactions – the broadcaster then backed out on Wednesday. The RTL2 statement explains the reason for the stop: "We noticed the vehemence of the reactions and take the voices of our audience seriously. We apologize if we have hurt feelings here.”

Wendler triggered a scandal in 2020 when he accused the federal government of “gross and serious violations of the constitution” with a video on Corona policy. The broadcaster RTL, for which he worked as a juror in the casting show "Deutschland sucht den Superstar", distanced himself. After another statement by Wendler about Germany as a "concentration camp", he was then completely cut out of the casting format. On the Telegram platform, Wendler repeatedly shared posts with false claims and extreme content such as the QAnon conspiracy theory.

There was a lot of criticism of the planned format, especially on social media. The singer, who emigrated to the United States, and his pregnant wife Laura should be seen preparing for the birth of their first child together.

Other stars of the station also spoke up, such as the reality TV stars of the Geiss family ("Die Geissens"). Robert and Carmen Geiss criticized RTL2 for the planned Wendler show and even threatened to leave. The millionaire family has been under contract with the station for years with its own format ("The Geissens – A Terribly Glamorous Family").

"We distance ourselves in the strongest terms from corona deniers and people who call Germany a 'concentration camp'. Conspiracy ideological statements are not our style," said the message on Instagram, which referred to the pop singer's previous political statements.

RTL2 also emphasized political and moral reasons in its statement. The broadcaster always distances itself from extremism of all kinds and stands for open-mindedness and tolerance, it says. "It is important to us to avoid even the appearance that the broadcaster is willing to compromise here. That's why we won't be pursuing the project with Michael Wendler any further. The producers EndemolShine Germany and Rainer Laux Productions fully support this decision.”