Ombudsman rejects complaints about Epiney marriage proposal on TV
SRF presenter Sven Epiney's surprise marriage proposal during the TV dance show "May I have this dance?" does not constitute abuse for ombudsman Roger Blum. He has rejected corresponding complaints.
Epiney had proposed to his life partner Michael Graber in front of running cameras in the final show on March 30. He was previously seen as a participant and not as the director of the SRF television show.
There is room for the private on television, and the surprising is also part of it, according to the newsletter published Tuesday by the Ombudsman's Office of SRG German-speaking Switzerland. "This event - not planned by SRF - gave both participants and the audience a beautiful, emotional moment."
Ombudsman Roger Blum has no sympathy for the discomfort of at least five viewers. He cannot understand the accusation that Epiney exploited a fee-funded program to raise his own profile.
Blum has no sympathy at all for the view of one complainant who saw public morality disturbed by the "propaganda action of homosexual associations." "We are not in Brunei, where homosexuals are executed. Nor are we in Russia, where they are discriminated against. We are in Switzerland, a country that legally recognizes same-sex partnerships. You should remember that," Blum countered. (SDA)
