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Endemol fights Big Brother fraud allegation

21 December 2005

AMSTERDAM — Television production company Endemol is taking legal action following the publication of a newspaper article suggesting the voting in the Dutch series of its Big Brother reality show was rigged.

The claim was made by former Big Brother contestant Gert Jan de Boer, 37, just as the latest series was building up to the finale on Thursday.

He told newspaper 'De Telegraaf' he had documentation proving Endemol, and not the voting public, decided who stayed and who was evicted from the house. De Boer lived in the Big Brother house in 2001 before being evicted.

De Boer said popular housemates were deliberately placed lower in the rankings to

stimulate viewers to vote as many times as possible for their favourites. "That was pure viewer betrayal," he said.

Endemol denied the allegations and instituted legal proceedings against De Boer and the newspaper on Tuesday. The company said it wanted to demonstrate before Thursday's final that "Big Brother was run fairly, and the votes of the viewers alone decided the end result".

The court is being asked to compel De Boer to declare publicly his accusations are not true. Endemol wants 'De Telegraaf' to admit the story was under-researched and not based on reliable information.

[Copyright Expatica News + ANP 2005]

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