Barbara Schoeneberger
It annoys you “this permanent teaching”
Barbara Schöneberger doesn’t mince words – but still distances herself from political positions.
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Barbara Schöneberger does her own thing. For them, the focus is on entertainment and not on political positioning.
Barbara Schöneberger (48) has been part of the German TV landscape for more than 20 years. From the ESC preliminary decision, to the RTL show with Günther Jauch (65) and Thomas Gottschalk (71), to “Do you understand fun?”: The entertainer is now an indispensable part of the television screen. With all her commitments, Schöneberger has one goal above all. “I want to entertain the masses”, she reveals in an interview with “Spiegel”.
In contrast to many of her show colleagues, who recently also shed light on serious topics such as sexism or right-wing radicalism, Schöneberger primarily wants to remain on the entertainment track. “I want to be very different from that. I believe we can indulge in non-waggish entertainment, even if it may seem old-fashioned to some.”
She doesn’t want to dictate to people “what they can eat, where they should get their meat from or what VAT rate on tampons would be fair”. “This constant teaching – it annoys me,” said the moderator.
However, Schöneberger does not want to describe himself as helpless. She clarifies: “I believe that what I am and how I live and the naturalness with which I have paved my way shows more attitude than a pseudo-feminist influencer with the hashtag #WomenSupportWomen trying to grab 500 followers .”
“Maybe I had it easier than others”
The fact that many would act “as if women’s support had only been invented on Instagram” was considered by Schöneberger to be “blatant mockery”. However, she also wonders whether she is “not radical enough, not feminist enough” for today’s zeitgeist. You can look back on a successful career. “Perhaps it was easier for me than others. (…) When I enter a room today, I’m usually the most successful,” she explains.
Your most recent job offer for the ARD cult show “Do you understand fun?” Schöneberger explains himself like this: “ARD wanted a woman. I think it wasn’t so much about me as it was about my gender.” However, that is not a problem for her. The entertainer now supports the women’s quota: “I changed my mind there.” On April 2, she will moderate the show for the first time.