A word about Jaimie Vaes and the leaked video

Yesterday, Jaimie Vaes and Lil Kleine were once again frequently in the news. The reason: Lil Kleine was first accused of aggravated assault and that was downgraded to assault. After all, he would not have put Jaimie's head between the car door, Jaimie had stated. And then the whole of the Netherlands was in an uproar again, because surely this was the case? No, this had been made up by the media, according to Jaimie. In addition, she said she had leaked the video herself. And that's what I want to talk about.

For one thing: hadn't we already kind of figured that out ourselves? The footage was from a security camera at the house where the two were still living together at the time; who else would have done it? A hacker who was patiently waiting to see footage that could be leaked? Lil Kleine himself? But perhaps most importantly, what the hell does it matter?

I'll confess right away that I too follow Yvonne Coldeweijer on Instagram, but yesterday I was momentarily at a loss as to why. You see, Yvonne had decided to post the entire phone conversation she had with Jaimie, in which Jaimie asked her to put the video online, in her Stories. I thought about it for a long time, but I still can't figure out why she felt this was necessary. What does Yvonne want to prove? That Jaimie told Yvonne that her head was indeed between the door? What is the added value of that?

Why does Yvonne want to put down a woman who was scared to death, who saw no way out other than posting a hugely violent video online, in order to escape from her abusive relationship, like this? Jaimie also tells Yvonne: ‘He has had enough chances, it really has to be done for me now, I want to get out of this.’ How intense is it that Jaimie saw this as the only way out? That you are so desperate, sad and scared, and at the same time so brave and strong in your decision that there really is no turning back now?

Why not focus on that? On the fact that Jaimie is redeemed from that relationship? That little son Lío is not growing up in a family where his father disrespects his mother? That we are instead talking about whether or not a head was between the door, I find truly unbelievable. Just to refresh your memory: this was done by the same guy who beat her up to blood in Ibiza a year before and then made an album about it. Wanting to make money because you can't keep your hands to yourself, I've never understood it.

I hope Yvonne apologises to Jaimie. She helped her with the video, as a woman to woman, but this huge urge to get her ‘right’ really overrode everything yesterday. This is a matter between Jaimie and Lil Kleine, and whether Yvonne feels lied to matters pretty little in my opinion. Besides, and perhaps most importantly: assault is a serious offence, even without that ‘serious’ in front of it. You just stay away from another person.