This week the news came that comedian Atle Antonsen will soon be back in the presenter’s chair in “The Mission”. Antonsen was dismissed from the P4 program after poet and social debater Sumaya Jirde Ali said that Antonsen had behaved very aggressively towards her at Bar Boca in Oslo, and said, among other things, that she was too dark-skinned to be there. There is really nothing surprising in that Antonsen is heading into the limelight again. The comedian, who was reported by Ali for hate speech, has not disputed her version of the story. But he has explained in questioning that what he said must have been meant humorously. By all accounts, this was the heaviest reason why the Attorney General dropped the case: That it could not be established that Antonsen had malicious intentions. He also has no history of racist statements. But it is possible to say something very disturbing without it being the conscious intention of it. Antonsen’s friend and partner, Johan Golden, was among those who came forward and said that his friend had said something racist, although he insisted that he was not racist. TOOK THE PAPER OUT OF HIS MOUTH: Comedian Johan Golden characterized his comrade Atle Antonsen’s statements as racist, but said that Antonsen himself was not racist. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB But when there are settlements and washing up after such controversies, it is never just about what you have said, but also about who you are. For many, it would probably be very difficult to come back after acting so frighteningly towards a person who everyone knows is vulnerable – Jirde Ali has lived with incitement and threats hanging over him for a number of years. But Atle Antonsen has come through the TV screen and into people’s living rooms for decades after decades. He has been a companion for TV viewers throughout much of their lives. Many will feel that they know him. And when they feel they know him, the stage at Bar Boca becomes only a small part of a larger whole. The road back is probably longer for presenter and former footballer Bernt Hulsker, who, unlike Antonsen, was sentenced to eighteen days’ suspended prison and a fine of ten thousand kroner for harassing a doorman with a minority background at a nightclub. TV PERSONALITY: Former soccer player Bernt Hulsker was known from “Kompani Lauritzen” on TV 2. Photo: Matti Bernitz / TV 2 Now Hulsker is also slowly building his career again, with a show in his home municipality Vestnes, but it is uncertain when or if he will enter the national scene again. Hulsker and Antonsen have in common that they lost control of the city, and sent messages that were perceived as very harassing by two minority Norwegians and by people who stood around and watched. The wounds they have to lick afterwards are self-inflicted. But now, afterwards, the public, the public, must also assess which sanctions feel reasonable when something like that happens. What is hardly appropriate is that someone like Atle Antonsen should be relegated to utter obscurity, and in practice banned from working. Presumably such demands would be counterproductive, as it would make it easier, not harder, to come to terms with what he actually said. There must be ways back. When someone behaves badly, it is stupid if the impression is created that the only adequate moral response is to stop liking that person, and stop looking at what he or she is doing. Then many will probably be reluctant to say that anything objectionable has happened at all. COLLABORATION: Atle Antonsen has also collaborated with Bård Tufte Johansen for a number of years. Both Tufte Johansen and Johan Golden took up Antonsen’s statements at Bar Boca in “Nytt på Nytt”. Photo: Berit Roald / NTB There are probably also many people who think that they themselves can also quickly say something insensitive or thoughtless, about racism or about other sensitive topics – perhaps not as serious as what Atle Antonsen said, but enough so that they lean against generosity and forgiveness when famous people blame themselves. At the same time, it will probably feel wrong to many if the fact that you are well-known and well-liked becomes like a “The prisoner is released” card from Monopoly, which means that those who have sufficient popularity to prey on can more or less do as they will continue as if nothing has happened. Those who waltz over boundaries must expect to be demanded apologies and explanations. Apologies must be perceived as genuine, not as half-hearted obligations, in order for them to be accepted in public. And the dot on the driver’s license will probably always be there. Perhaps a good way to approach it all is to draw a dotted line between who you are and what you do. Put another way: the fact that you say something that is perceived as threatening or racist does not have to mean that you are condemned or incorrigible. It is not a final judgment on who you are. But there is something that needs to be talked about, something that needs to be problematised, before the door to the old TV and radio studios is slammed shut. Naturally, such settlements will never be completely fair. Even in the days after the dramatic evening at Bar Boca, it was the passive party, she who was exposed to the discomfort, who was the most pilloried in the newspapers’ comment sections. It is Sumaya Jirde Ali who has resigned as editor of Fett, who has become silent, while Atle Antonsen is in the process of winning her roles and working back. Above all the discussions about how there should be a way back for the person who has done something stupid, it is worth remembering that that road can be even narrower and more bumpy for the other person – she who was just going out on the town for an evening.
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It was only a matter of time before Atle Antonsen was back – Statement
