Talpa founder John de Mol and his son Johnny de Mol filed a complaint on Monday. They feel threatened and blackmailed by legal advisers from an ex-girlfriend of Johnny’s.
Attempted “threats”, which is a form of extortion without the use of force, involving the threat of blackmailing someone, have been reported.
The reason is the forthcoming publication of an unauthorized biography about the De Mol family, Thursday. In one of its 111 chapters, Johnny de Mol’s ex-girlfriend, Shima Kaes, shares intimate details about her turbulent relationship with the TV presenter in 2014 and 2015.
According to De Telegraaf newspaper, two legal advisers to Kaes told Johnny and his parents through a bailiff in September that she was willing to hand over “demonstrable evidence” to them in exchange for a financial settlement. They would thus suggest that the wealthy family could buy off negative publicity.
“On our backs a book full of gossip and backbiting is brought to the attention in a cheap way,” says Talpa founder John de Mol. “We always file a report in the event of a threat.”
The family’s lawyer, Peter Plasman, calls the advisers’ letter in the newspaper “a transparent and raunchy attempt to rip off money from the De Mol family.” Calling in bailiffs “makes the threat all the more obvious,” he says. Plasman did not want to provide any substantive explanation of the publication on Wednesday morning.
The family has asked the Public Prosecution Service to prosecute the legal advisers. Deportation is punishable by up to four years in prison. Shima Kaes has not (yet) been charged, because it is unclear whether she has ordered this method.
The book in question, De Mol; the most powerful media family in the Netherlands, was written by freelance journalist Mark Koster. “I have nothing to do with that letter and those bailiffs,” he emphasizes.
Koster looked on Wednesday with amazement and admiration at the reports of De Telegraaf. “This is a classic John de Mol trick, defending ahead,” he says. “De Mol knew that my book will be published on Thursday. I gave him and others months to respond to the book. ”
“About that matter between his son and Shima Kaes, he said: it must be resolved. I just wanted to soften it. Then they sent lawyers after me and the publisher, Balans. Now they are trying, at the last minute, to give the news their own spin through the newspaper. ”
Koster: “Somehow I also think it’s clever how they do this. It does not surprise me that they bring this out via De Telegraaf. That newspaper is the family’s drainer. “
