Sweden drops probe into Joost Klein, expelled hours before Eurovision final
13 August 2024, 12:04
The 26-year-old singer and rapper had been a bookies’ favourite with his song Europapa.
Sweden has dropped its investigation into a backstage altercation in May involving the Dutch contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest who was expelled from the competition hours before the final.
After fan favourite Joost Klein was booted out, organisers said the reason was a probe by Swedish police into “a complaint made by a female member of the production crew”.
In its new statement, the Swedish Prosecution Authority said the investigation concluded that “the man made a movement that hit the woman’s film camera”, adding that “the course of events was fast and was perceived differently by the witnesses of the incident”.
“I cannot prove that the act was capable of causing serious fear or that the man had any such intention,” senior prosecutor Fredrik Jonsson said.
He did not name Mr Klein.
The 26-year-old singer and rapper had been a bookies’ favourite with his song Europapa, an upbeat ode to the continent’s diversity that is also a tribute to his parents, who died when he was a child.
The last-minute disqualification was unprecedented in the 68-year history of Eurovision.
Dutch broadcaster Avrotros, one of dozens of public broadcasters that collectively fund and broadcast the contest, said at the time it was “shocked by the decision”.
On Monday, Avrotros welcomed the Swedish decision, saying that there was “no evidence of criminal conduct”.
“From the beginning we said that this disqualification was unnecessary and disproportionate” and it planned to meet with the organiser about the issue soon.
“This unjustified disqualification will be central to this conversation,” it said in a statement to The Associated Press.
