Last year in June, Konstantin was called out for sexist remarks against women in a article published by Groove Magazine. Last week an online petition was launched to have Konstantin removed from three events taking place during Amsterdam Dance Event, which you can sign here. Today we received a statement from Konstantin, read below.
When I first discovered dance music, I fell in love with its freedom. How every kind of rhythm and musical influence can be integrated into this music. And I felt the same about the spaces, where this music took place. People from all kinds of backgrounds came together with an open mindset to connect on another level. This kind of diversity and freedom is what brought me to this music in the first place.
The fact that I am now considered as a symbol of sexism and discrimination is the opposite of what I want to achieve. This breaks my heart.
Because I don’t think women are worse DJ’s than men. There are DJ’s with different levels of skills, but this has nothing to do with gender.
I realised that I treated sensitive topics with a lack of knowledge by taking only my own experiences into consideration. Through the conversations last year I realized that from my own perspective I didn’t understand the levels of discrimination and sexism that still exist in our society. If I had seen this clearer and actually felt it, I wouldn’t have discussed this topic so carelessly. Therefore, I now comprehend the huge importance and the need for people who make this discrimination visible and try to bring things into balance.
I deeply apologize to the people that I have hurt and to those who spent so much time with me to get to this point.
It took me long to get back to all this. I needed to process and find the right words, and first of all I had to learn to listen.
I would love to know what I can do to make amends.