Hape Kerkeling is cult. The entertainer has been in the business for decades and is one of the most popular German celebrities. Whether as a comedian, actor or bestselling author – Kerkeling knows exactly how to make the audience laugh. Today, the gay entertainer openly supports the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community, but that wasn’t always the case: at the beginning of his career, Kerkeling had to keep his sexuality secret. In the 90s there was a scandal: Hape Kerkeling was involuntarily outed – live on TV.
Forced outing on TV: This breach of taboo shocked all of Germany
We are writing at the beginning of the 90s: Homosexuality is far from being accepted in Germany. The AIDS crisis caused fear and terror, and hostility towards minorities was the order of the day. Celebrities couldn’t be open about themselves without jeopardizing their careers. Hape Kerkeling became known as a humorous TV star in the mid-80s, but nothing about his homosexuality was allowed to come out.
The entertainer recently revealed in his new book that attempts were being made behind the scenes to get him into a fake relationship: “The WDR wanted to force me into a fake relationship with a woman.”
In 1991, one of the most scandalous TV moments of all time occurred: The renowned filmmaker and activist Rosa von Praunheim was a guest on The Hot Seat and dropped the bombshell live on TV: He outed entertainer Hape Kerkeling and TV chef Alfred Biolek (†2021) as gay. The tabloid press is out of control. The whole of Germany discussed this shocking moment. BILD headlined “Gay betrayal on TV”.
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Hape Kerkeling’s forced outing: This is how he dealt with the TV scandal
Hape Kerkeling revealed to Spiegel that Rosa von Praunheim had called him the evening before the live broadcast with the request that Kerkeling come out publicly. Hape Kerkeling refused: “I told him I’ll publish it when I think it’s right.”
A day later there was a scandalous moment on live TV. Hape Kerkeling didn’t even watch the show, but only found out about his forced outing on TV through a phone call. The entertainer revealed in the Spiegel interview that not everyone would have had the strength to carry on after such a shock:
People more sensitive than me might have taken a quick action and gone into the bathtub with a hairdryer.
Fortunately, the love of the audience was stronger than common prejudices. Kerkeling reports that after the shocking moment he was able to continue his career undisturbed: “Even in the deepest Bavarian province, where I was on tour shortly after coming out, I was never talked to stupidly.”
“I knew what I was doing”: Rosa von Praunheim wanted to set an example
The scandalous action is still controversial today. The forced outing could have meant the end of Kerkeling and Biolek’s TV careers. In addition, coming out is considered a private moment that must never happen without the consent of those affected.
Von Praunheim defended his action as “Cry of Despair”. The filmmaker is considered a pioneer of the LGBTQIA+ movement and has repeatedly campaigned for greater visibility in times of exclusion. But the director doesn’t regret his actions, as he reveals in his book: “I knew what I was doing.”
Nevertheless, the 82-year-old would not repeat the action, as he revealed to the Berliner Zeitung:
Despite this breaking of taboos, even the celebrities Alfred Biolek and Hape Kerkeling, who I had outed, subsequently made conciliatory comments about my action, which I would no longer repeat. In any case, the one-sided negative media coverage of gays changed for the better.
However, Kerkeling is now much more understanding to WELT: “It wasn’t right to do it at the time, but from today’s perspective it wasn’t wrong.”