Dear René Froger,

Maybe it's a bit old news again. You were all over the showbiz columns because you said something. And even though it's three days later, I still want to say something about it. Just because I feel for you. Because what you said was, of course, completely taken out of context and misquoted.

In case the readers missed it: you supposedly said that your artists were hit hardest by corona. Not only because all your performances have been canceled, but also because you can't do anything else and therefore can't pick up any other work.

And then you were filleted and chopped up and I find that sad. Because you didn't say that, of course. You also think that the people who are hit hardest are the ones who have lost the battle against corona. You also think that you, watching Netflix and meanwhile eating Brie de Meaux toast and okay, maybe feeling a bit bored, cannot compare at all to those poor healthcare workers. Those people who stood in the ICU six days a week, working non-stop without a break or pause because then the whole suit had to come off again and everything had to be disinfected. Not to mention the people they saw dying under their hands.

You didn't say this. You, who during this quarantine surely received an envelope with a nice note from Buma/Stemra because your songs were played and you still get something credited to your account for that. While you were taking your third car through the car wash (because there was nothing else to do), you surely also thought about the people who work in nursing homes. People in some homes where a third of the residents died. Then you also thought: I may not be performing for a while, but it's nothing compared to these people.

I know you thought that, René. With a wife who makes Five Days Inside and always jumps in to help others, it can't be any other way.

It's just all misinterpreted and totally taken out of context.

Right, René?
Tell me I'm right.

I beg you.

Image: Reinier Bergsma – Talpa Beeldbank