“Found astray”
Xavier Naidoo with a surprising change of heart
Xavier Naidoo has apologized for his “mistakes”.
© imago/Tinkeres
Xavier Naidoo apologizes for the “disturbing statements” he recently made. Whence this change of mind?
“I’m in touch with you today because I want to take a stand on something”: With these words and a serious expression, musician Xavier Naidoo (50) begins a video post he uploaded to YouTube. But anyone who then speculates on a new conspiracy theory, with which Mannheim’s son had primarily attracted attention in recent years, will be surprised. Because Naidoo “recognized some of the wrong paths I was on and that I’ve made many mistakes in recent years.”
He became aware “that I irritated and provoked my family, my friends, my fans, people who defended me, but also many other people with disturbing statements, for which I would like to apologize,” continues Naidoo. However, he does not go into more detail here.
The musician had recently spread conspiracy theories, for example about the corona pandemic. Even with supposedly racist and anti-Semitic messages, he attracted negative attention and at the same time received encouragement from the right-wing and lateral thinkers scene. He says that he “ultimately got lost” in the search for the truth: “I opened myself to theories, perspectives and sometimes also groups, from which I distance myself and break away without ifs and buts. I was blinded by conspiracy stories and I didn’t question her enough.” In doing so, he had “removed his connection to reality”.
What triggered this rethinking?
At the beginning of the video, the star reveals why Naidoo became aware that he was – as he puts it – “partially” wrong. The war in Ukraine opened his eyes: “Like you, the events of the past few weeks have shocked and shaken me. The brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine. The violence, the contempt for human beings, the fact of a war that was not far from here is far from us.”
Naidoo further explains: “You have to know: My wife comes from Ukraine. And her, our family lives there. […] The world seems turned upside down. And I asked myself how it could come to this.” All of this prompted him to talk to his loved ones and to critically question himself and his own statements from the past. He ends the video with the words: “Peace. one love Your Xavier.”