Cabaret artist Monika Gruber reacts to accusations of racism
Her publisher apologizes to the victim, but cabaret artist and author Monika Gruber goes one better after her book passage about blogger Roma Maria Mukherjee. She accuses her of pushing people into a right-wing corner.
Cabaret artist Monika Gruber has rejected accusations of racism in connection with her new book and justified the controversial passage as satire in a newspaper interview. "I think I was still relatively harmless in view of the fact that this lady would prefer to push everyone who calls knitting their hobby into the right-wing corner per se, so I have no sense of injustice in this case," Gruber told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper. "Or as Bruno Jonas would say: Yes, where are we!"
In her book "Willkommen im falschen Film" (Welcome to the wrong movie), Gruber takes a swipe at the X user Roma Maria Mukherjee, whose real name is mentioned, who warned in a post on the platform: "Right-wing extremist women are currently actively infiltrating the textile hobby scene (e.g. on the subject of knitting). Please take an active interest in who is offering what and who is making offers." This is nonsense and blogger Roma Maria Mukherjee is a guardian of virtue, according to Gruber's book.
Specifically, Roma Maria Mukherjee spoke of courses and groups in the comments under the post in question: "There are various infiltrations here". However, the fact that the blogger "wants to push everyone who calls knitting their hobby into the right-wing corner per se", as Gruber insinuates, cannot be found in the X article.
Passage perceived as offensive
What a woman of this name is doing in the textile hobby scene is a mystery, the cabaret artist also writes in her book. She thought Roma Maria Mukherjee was "more likely to be involved in tantric Shakra gymnastics or a vegan primal scream seminar". She then made it public that she found the passage offensive, racist and defamatory - and received a lot of encouragement.
Mukherjee, who works as a practice manager in the healthcare sector after studying educational science with a focus on right-wing extremism, also criticized the use of her full name, which came as a complete surprise to her - and was confronted with hate messages in the course of the debate.
Piper publishing house apologizes
The publishing house Piper, which, like Gruber, has been criticized ever since, said on request that it had "sincerely apologized" to Mukherjee in a personal message. "We will thoroughly review the events internally," a spokeswoman announced. Neither the publisher nor the authors had intended to offend anyone personally. The controversial passage will therefore be adjusted.
In addition, the names of those affected will not be mentioned in future editions. The printed book is currently no longer available, but "we are working on an adapted reprint", the spokesperson explained. The change to the passages is expected to take effect in all editions, including audio and e-books, in mid-January.
It was not initially clear whether Gruber and co-author Andreas Hock agree with this procedure. The 52-year-old emphasized in the "Augsburger Allgemeine" that the accusations were "without foundation". She is relaxed about a legal dispute. "Anyone who makes public statements on social issues must also accept that these statements are then treated satirically." The publisher did not want to comment on the recent statements by "the Gruberin", as the Upper Bavarian likes to call herself.
Mukherjee wrote on X before the turn of the year that she had received several "inappropriate" personal messages from Piper. "Are you serious? Feel free to disclose your PN and my response," she wrote on the platform.
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Despite the apology from Monika Gruber's publisher, the cabaret artist stands firm on her controversial remarks. She defends her use of satire in her book "Willkommen im falschen Film," stating that Roma Maria Mukherjee, the subject of her satire, often pushes people into extreme right-wing positions in her posts about knitting and other hobbies.
In response to the backlash, Roma Maria Mukherjee, who works in the healthcare sector, criticized the use of her full name and the offensive representation in Gruber's book. Despite the planned adjustments to the controversial passage, the fallout continues, with both parties engaging in public debates and exchanges.
Source: www.ntv.de
