At the beginning of May, Fynn Kliemann was accused of fraud in transactions with corona protective masks. Now the influencer apologizes in a video on Instagram for his misconduct and promises to improve. “I’ll clean up everything now,” promises the musician. There was praise for the contribution – but also a lot of criticism.
Three weeks after allegations about protective mask shops became known, the influencer Fynn Kliemann apologized for his behavior in an Instagram video. The musician and entrepreneur presented himself in his Instagram post “I’m sorry. I’m going to clean up now” filled with remorse. “I always thought the criticism hit the wrong person here,” he explained in the video. During his research, he then noticed: “The right person is being criticized here.”
Kliemann and the textile company Global Tactics were heavily criticized in early May by a TV report by the satirist Jan Böhmermann on ZDF. Kliemann is said to have declared corona protective masks produced in Asia as goods from Europe in his online fashion shop “Oderso”. The allegations in the TV report are also about 100,000 faulty masks that were donated to refugees.
In the video, Kliemann now admitted that he had made money in his own shop selling masks – otherwise he had previously only spoken of prime costs. Kliemann wrote on the shop’s website: “That was a big communication error. Never malicious or fraudulent, but it was a mistake nonetheless.” He will now donate the profit of more than 280,000 euros to four charitable organizations.
He was celebrated as the largest mask producer in Europe, although he wasn’t one. So that everything “goes faster” and as many respiratory masks as possible come to Germany, Kliemann continues, he “pushed processes” without questioning them more closely or checking the quality. “I failed so much as the guy I never wanted to be. I’m sorry,” Kliemann apologized.
In the comments, Instagram users reacted split to the video. Numerous celebrities and fans found words of praise for the public apology. “Thank you for the honest and transparent statement!” Writes a user. Other users are more critical: “Fraud is fraud, would you have said all that without revealing Bohemia?”
In the video, Kliemann also distanced himself from the textile company Global Tactics. He wants to break ties to the group of companies and return his shares in two group companies founded in 2021 “for a symbolic euro”. After the broadcast, the listed retailer, Kliemann and the textile company spoke independently of each other and also announced that they would each conduct further internal investigations.
Kliemann has a large fan base – but his style also polarizes. He presents himself as a self-made type and free spirit. In addition to his music career, the most well-known project is probably the “Kliemannsland”, a farm in the Lower Saxony town of Rüspel. There he built a kind of adventure playground for adults. There is handicrafts, screwing, music made – you can book workshops. Kliemann is also known for his do-it-yourself clips on YouTube, where he is followed by hundreds of thousands. He is also a businessman involved in companies.
