Disqualified Eurovision singer Joost Klein has spoken publicly for the first time since it was confirmed the case against him had been closed.
Earlier this year, Joost was chosen to represent The Netherlands at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, and went into this year’s final as one of the favourites to win.
However, the day before the live broadcast, it was revealed that the Dutch singer and rapper would not be rehearsing “until further notice” while an undisclosed “incident” involving the Netherlands representative was investigated.
The following morning, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) confirmed that Joost had been disqualified from the competition altogether, a measure which his country’s national broadcaster Avrotros described as “heavy and disproportionate”.
At the time, Avrotros said in a statement: “An incident occurred after last Thursday’s performance. Against clearly made agreements, Joost was filmed when he had just gotten off stage and had to rush to the greenroom.
“At that moment, Joost repeatedly indicated that he did not want to be filmed. This wasn’t respected. This led to a threatening movement from Joost towards the camera.
“Joost did not touch the camera woman. This incident was reported, followed by an investigation by the EBU and police.”
The matter was then handed to the Swedish public prosecution, who confirmed on Monday afternoon that the case was being dropped.
“Today I have closed the investigation because I cannot prove that the act was capable of causing serious fear or that the man had any such intention”, said senior prosecutor Fredrik Jönsson.
A post on the authority’s website also read: “The investigation has come to the conclusion that the man made a movement that hit the woman’s film camera. The course of events was fast and was perceived differently by the witnesses of the incident.”
On Monday evening, Joost told his Instagram followers: “The last couple of months were terrible. Even though I love to perform anywhere around the world, something didn’t feel right.
“Why did we have to wait so long for an answer? Everyday I felt insecure whilst I knew the truth. There is no case against me, because there never was a case.”
Alongside a photo of himself as a boy, he wrote: “We should all take care [of] each other, we should all support each other and we should ALL come together. Companies just want to protect their money and they tried to use me as a shield. A village against the city…”
”Guess what?” he concluded. “Love always wins. Trust the process! Even though I lost all hope we back now baby! Album mode!”
This year’s Eurovision Song Contest was marred by controversy both in the lead-up to and throughout the competition.
It was later revealed that several complaints were made to the EBU about the behaviour from certain teams behind the scenes in Malmö, including a complaint from the Dutch delegation a day before Joost was disqualified.
Back in June, the EBU revealed that an independent investigation was underway, as a result of these complaints.