Thomas Gottschalk has had to postpone his planned comeback due to health reasons. He had been scheduled to host the “Golden Ochsensepp” awards ceremony in Munich next week, an event honoring the resistance fighter and CSU co-founder Josef Müller.
This hosting engagement would have marked his first public appearance since he made his open disclosure of his cancer diagnosis at the end of November. The award was originally intended for former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, but Gottschalk has since canceled. In a statement to the “Spiegel” newspaper, the 75-year-old stated, “I will not appear in public on stage before autumn, whether for Kurz or anyone else”. He added that the future of his health will dictate his plans.
Holm Dressler, the artistic director of the award ceremony, confirmed that the event has been moved to September, and he still plans to include Gottschalk, provided his health allows. Dressler, who managed Gottschalk’s ZDF shows “Na sowas” and “Wetten, dass…?” in the 1980s, noted that the suddenness of the cancellation can be seen on the event’s homepage. Previously, the ceremony had been advertised at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof until Wednesday morning, with Gottschalk and the date of May 9th listed.
This year marks the first time the “Golden Ochsensepp” award will be presented. The price is endowed by the International Friends’ Circle for a Christian-Social Policy (IFCSP), an organization that describes itself as a union of Christian-conservative thinkers, institutions, and businesses. Former CSU politician Peter Gauweiler was slated to serve as the presenter. The show also featured a performance act by former “Wetten, dass…?” regular Chris de Burgh.
