The scandal with the disqualification of Eurovision 2024 finalist Jost Klein has been resolved: all parties to the conflict have responded

Police in Malmö, Sweden, have closed the case against Dutch artist Jost Klein for allegedly assaulting a member of the Eurovision 2024 crew and found him not guilty. The investigation against the finalist was suspended due to lack of evidence.

This was reported on the Eurovision World website. All parties to the conflict responded to the decision of law enforcement, and none of them changed their position.

Why Jost Klein was disqualified

Joost Klein was disqualified a few hours before the grand final due to allegedly violent actions against a female show worker. The Dutch broadcaster (Avrotros) noted that the reason was a "threatening movement" towards the woman, but the artist did not touch her.

The Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet wrote that a verbal altercation took place between the participant and the cameraman, as a result of which Klein damaged the video camera. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) called his behavior a "violation of the contest rules" and banned him from performing on stage.

The Dutch broadcaster noted that the contestant was on his way to his dressing room when they started filming him without permission, which was allegedly a violation of the contract. Klein made it clear that he wanted to be alone, but the crew ignored his request.

Reaction to the police decision

The European broadcaster emphasized that it did not insist on a police investigation and did not accuse the singer of breaking the law, but it could not allow him to participate after the incident.

"It was an investigation to determine whether a criminal act had been committed, not whether Mr. Klein behaved inappropriately and violated the rules and procedures of the Eurovision Song Contest. Therefore, this new development does not affect our decision," the EBU said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Avrotros announced that it will not let the incident go and will continue negotiations with Eurovision over the disqualification.

"The next step is to meet with the EBU management on this issue as soon as possible. This meeting will focus on this unfair disqualification. We will also discuss all of our other objections to the developments behind the scenes of the song contest, which we previously sent to the EBU in a comprehensive letter that has remained unanswered to date," the Dutch broadcaster said.

Joost Klein, who did not perform in the final with his song Europapa, also did not stand aside.

"The last few months have been terrible. Even though I love performing anywhere in the world, something was wrong. Why did we wait so long for an answer? Every day I felt insecure, even though I knew the truth. There is no case against me because there never was one. We all have to take care of each other, we all have to support each other and we all have to unite. Companies just want to protect their money and tried to use me as a shield," the singer wrote on his Instagram.

The reaction of the woman who wrote the statement cannot be found, as the EBU has kept her name secret.

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