It was 11:45 p.m. and the show was actually over, the first confetti was already falling off the studio ceiling. The prematurely falling scraps of glitter tumbled down on a woman who was not yet in the mood to celebrate. Maren Kroymann, the evening’s honorary laureate, had one more request. One that some in the hall would certainly share, but that only wanted, was allowed, and could speak to the cabaret artist? Kroymann had the guts to address the “elephant in the room” – this is how laudator Hazel Brugger recently described the comedian among them, against whom there are allegations of cross-border behavior, but which the German comedy industry had skilfully ignored for months.
In front of Kroymann, Hazel Brugger and her husband made the first statement of the evening. They wore shirts with the words “Konsequenzen für Comedian XY”, based on the hashtag # KonsequenzenFürLuke, under which social media users have been posting demands for months to deal with the allegations against Luke Mockridge. The comedian threw more than ten women in one mirrors-Report cross-border behavior up to and including sexual assault. Mockridge denies the allegations, the public prosecutor has stopped the investigation due to a lack of sufficient suspicion. Since then, Brugger and Co. have repeatedly emphasized their solidarity with the accusing women, at the same time they criticize the backing for Mockridge, also from the comedy scene. On the back of the shirts with which Brugger and her husband showed up at the Comedy Prize gala, they write: “Artists without a backbone are artists without taste”.
For the organizers of the Cologne Comedy Festival Prize, the debate was no more worthwhile than having moderator Steven Gätjen read out a written explanation of why Mockridge’s Netflix series was Over Christmas was subsequently deleted from a nomination list – “because of the public discussions,” it said. Details: Nothing.
Kroymann skipped the usual acceptance speech and found clear words
The newly crowned honorary award winner Kroymann was so disturbed by this collective lack of judgment that she skipped the usual words of thanks in her speech and found clear words: “I would have liked the people responsible for this award – and also from the broadcaster – to have had the eggs to say: We show solidarity not only with our popular artist, but with the women who are affected. ” She also expressed the wish to respect the women and to believe their stories.
For years, Luke Mockridge was the face of Sat 1 – the broadcaster that Kroymann was currently attacking. “Is there anyone else like me that I just missed women on stage?” She asked after the more than three-hour gala in the hall. “And who came up with the dress that the fabulous colleague who brings the awards wears?” 13 years have passed since literary critic Marcel Reich-Ranicki rejected the television award for his life’s work on stage. Kroymann’s moment is more meaningful because she didn’t. What gets stuck are not personal sensitivities, as in the case of Reich-Ranicki, but the selfless content of her speech, in which Kroymann, who knows discrimination as a lesbian media maker only too well, stood up for all women, not just for those in her industry .
The only woman awarded in the Podcast category stayed at home and looked after the children
It is not the first time that the Comedy Prize in particular has been criticized for discriminating against women. Last year, a category for female podcasts was added after fewer women (none) than people named Thomas Schmitt (two) appeared in the originally published nomination list. In order to prevent Shitstorms like this one in the future, the burden of nomination was placed entirely in the hands of the fans this year, who could vote for their favorites online in advance. Result: In the podcast category, which was mixed again for inexplicable reasons, a woman made it onto the list this time – Amira Pocher, as co-host of the show she runs with her husband Oliver. He came to the ceremony alone because – no joke – Amira was sitting at home and taking care of the children.
Aside from these anti-feminist misconduct, the organizers should ask themselves whether an award ceremony still makes sense, which, given the now completely grassroots voting process and the low-event show, could just as easily be carried out with the help of a teletext survey. The annoying obligatory appointment, which this time skipped the winner Carolin Kebekus in addition to permanent truants like Jan Böhmermann, is unlikely to be missed, as can be seen from the many tired faces in the hall. Even Kawus Kalantar, who was awarded the title of best newcomer, looked more perplexed than exuberant when, to his surprise, he was called onto the stage.
Yes, you can definitely do better with your time than chasing the comedy award. Maren Kroymann also had ideas for this. “Eat healthy, hug trees, do yoga, have good sex,” she told young artists after she had just shaken up the entire industry at the age of 72. “Take care so that you are not dead when the late honor reaches you.”