Luigi Pantisano, the leader of Die Linke (The Left Party), strongly criticized the ZDF management for excluding rapper Danger Dan and pianist Igor Levit from the satirical program “Die Anstalt.”
Pantisano stated to the “Rheinische Post” (Saturday edition) that an anti-fascist song should naturally be broadcast on ZDF. He argued that the cancellation gave the impression of “premature obedience to a right-wing AfD,” a party keen on abolishing public broadcasters. The party leader demanded that public broadcasting should stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those opposing the rightward shift, rather than giving airtime to individuals who “poison the minds and hearts of people with hatred and vitriol and undermine democracy.”
Danger Dan himself accused the ZDF management of censorship. The broadcaster justified its decision by claiming that the text of the song could be viewed “as a call to violence,” which is in clear contradiction to ZDF’s programming guidelines.
However, ZDF announced that it plans to address the song and its theme-resistance to right-wing extremism-in a “documentary-journalistic” manner via a special edition of “Aspekte”. Furthermore, the production team of “Die Anstalt” is scheduled to engage critically with the cancellation in the affected broadcast. The creators of “Die Anstalt” have since distanced themselves from the management’s decision.
