crime
Burgtheater wants to sue actor Teichtmeister
The Viennese actor Florian Teichtmeister. photo
© Florian Wieser/APA/dpa
The actor had always rejected the allegations against the Burgtheater. But then the child porn files were found on him. The damage to the theater is immense – not just financially.
The criminal proceedings against Florian Teichtmeister (43) for possessing pornographic depictions of minors could also have serious financial consequences for the actor. In addition to the criminal trial at the beginning of February, the successful artist is threatened with a lawsuit from the Vienna Burgtheater, as the stage announced on Friday. “The damage to the Burgtheater is immense,” said commercial director Robert Beutler.
Teichtmeister also plays in the Sisi film “Corsage”, which is in the preselection for the foreign Oscar. It will be announced on Tuesday whether “Corsage” will make it from the shortlist to one of the Oscar-nominated films.
The Burgtheater fired Teichtmeister last week after it became known that he had been accused of possessing tens of thousands of files containing pornographic depictions of young people and children. His attorney said Teichtmeister will plead guilty in court and is cooperating with investigators.
After Teichtmeister’s departure, four plays in which he played had to be recast or canceled. “The damage in this regard cannot yet be quantified, but it will certainly have to be sued,” said Beutler in a statement.
In “Corsage” Teichtmeister plays Emperor Franz Joseph. According to the Austrian Association of the Film Industry, he should be separated as a person from the work of director Marie Kreutzer.
“I am saddened and angry that a feminist film that more than 300 people from across Europe have worked on for years is so sullied and damaged by one person’s horrific actions,” Kreutzer said. Both sides emphasized that Teichtmeister had always credibly denied rumors about the allegations to the producers of the film and to the Burgtheater.