That moment may come. When you learn that your partner of 13 years has committed criminal, heinous, despicable acts against a person who has never harmed him in any way, anywhere. From the moment you find out, there are no tactics, crisis management, damage control, or whatever else they call it; there is only one way forward. You pick up the phone immediately and ask, «What is this I'm reading? What have you done?»
And yes, as his own public statement proves, he has done so. It's not called revenge porn; no ex-lover took revenge on the woman with whom he had a relationship by posting videos and photos on a pornographic website without her consent while they were still in a relationship. I don't know what English or Greek term to use to replace revenge porn, let's leave that to psychiatrists and lawyers to figure out.
From the very first day, from the very first moment, the perpetrator ceased to be for us even what he had been until then, a professional colleague. There was no other way, no other thought for a moment. This man betrayed a partnership with the father of a daughter and a son, with the father of a son and the father of two girls and a boy. From the moment we heard the news, that is all we have been. That is why we cannot be and continue to be anything else at this time.
But we are not the victims. There is only one victim, who has been tortured and continues to be tortured unjustly, and all this must come to an end. And it will. Not an end as news, but an end as torture. Mental and spiritual. This extermination ends here.
You know, many times people who are blatantly wronged end up crashing into a wall. Made of stuff like physical exhaustion, mental exhaustion, financial weakness, and no moral support, a wall rises in front of them that says, «I can't take it anymore,» «I'll never get justice.» This is not the case, because we will not allow it to be.
Last night, on behalf of our team, I managed to contact the girl after our on-air appeal and her own initiative, and learn the whole truth from her. We also contacted her lawyer, who described to me the entire legal ordeal that the victim has been going through since 2019, almost three years ago. We learned firsthand about the victim's repeated pleas to have the illegally posted pornographic material taken down, the promises that were not kept, the systematic deception, the failure to appear in court, the avoidance of summary proceedings, we learned everything. And I heard on the phone a man who was disappointed and exhausted.
The common line we drew in the studio while talking to Antonis and Giannis had nothing to do with our own damage control, with managing our own crisis, but with managing her own crisis, which has dragged on for so long that it ceases to be a «crisis,» which is why I describe it as torture.
We will provide any legal, psychological, or other assistance the victim may need. We will cover everything necessary for this case to be tried fairly, including any legal and scientific tools her lawyer may need. She will never again be alone in facing the person who so unjustly hurt her.
I will not go into the details of the case (unbelievable that I have to use this phrase), because her lawyer gave me this very specific instruction. We will not make any mistakes in the face of the indignation and anger we feel. We have the necessary time, resources, and above all, the willingness to actively support this young woman, as if she were our sister, as if she were our daughter.
The answer to the question in the title «How could you not know?» It's so simple. The man who committed the acts he now admits to never shared them with anyone. I imagine he knew he couldn't share them with Antonis, Yannis, me, or anyone else behind the cameras, our colleagues, while maintaining his anonymity and impunity. And he did it all in secret. And unfortunately, he didn't just do that, as we learn from additional allegations. And unfortunately, we don't know what else he may have done that will be reported from now on. But that's how it should be! Everything should be reported and everything should come to light. And regardless of whether our stomachs are churning with grief and anger, regardless of whether we are disgusted by the cesspool of his actions, we do not want this lid to be closed, covering up and concealing other victims.
Social media users and their posts, institutional and non-institutional actors who smell blood and come out to taste it, government and non-government actors, all those who weigh up assumptions, characters, and lives, will all get their answers in due course. This urgency is not for us.
I will conclude here with a humane request from all of us, Antonis, Giannis, myself, and all the production team, to our colleagues in the media. Let the victim calm down, get her bearings, and exist! For anything you need, contact her lawyer. Please, let's not cause any more damage. As professionals, we can handle everything. She cannot. Let's be human beings first, then let's be whatever else we want to be.
