Documentary about Jérôme BoatengLots of praise and little criticism
ARD’s three-part documentary examines the rise, career and alleged fall of professional footballer Jérôme Boateng. For the first time he spoke about the death of Kasia Lenhardt. Overall, he did pretty well.
This was supposed to be a documentary about one of Germany’s most talented footballers. About a person who, despite all odds, fought his way through a wedding in Berlin with his brother and achieved everything. However, Jérôme Boateng’s sporting achievements have been overshadowed by many negative headlines over the years.
“Being Jérôme Boateng” appears in the ARD documentary series which previously focused on Michael Schumacher, Franziska van Almsick and Jan Ullrich. Of course, a film about a special footballer is a logical step at this time. His career is incomparable. Which is also called an accident. It is introduced as a teaser in each episode, giving the impression that it is the film’s core theme. But for a long time, it was about Jérôme Boateng’s youth, his rise, the unspeakable racism against him and the most important games and stages of his career.
From Lukas Podolski to Cathy Hummels
Apart from his father, colleagues such as Lukas Podolski, Horst Hrubesch, Thomas Helmer, Cacau, former HSV board member Katja Kraus and – attention – Cathy Hummels also expressed their opinions. The only thing more interesting is a person who doesn’t say anything. For example, Boateng’s mother and brother Kevin-Prince Boateng. You recently expressed criticism regarding his questionable behavior towards women.
Her tumultuous love life and her children are occasionally discussed, but mostly have to do with her demanding job. Even including his brief affair with Gina-Lisa Lohfink, at that time he was officially in a relationship with Sherin Senler, the mother of his twins. After eleven years of relationship, he repeatedly argued with her about custody of their daughter.
In 2024, Boateng was even convicted of “deliberate bodily harm” against Senler and was held responsible in court. The relationship was “toxic,” Boateng said. This resulted in “some kind of fight” over the holidays in 2018, and ended with him punching her in the face. But a judge ruled at the time that he was not a “notorious wife beater.” He had doubts about Senler’s statement because the custody process for the twins was still ongoing. Boateng received a warning and a conditional fine of 200,000 euros. Therefore, he is not considered to have a criminal record, but is considered “guilty as charged.”
Talking about Lenhardt was “very difficult” for him
It’s only in the last twenty minutes that something many of those tuning in have probably been waiting for. This is about Kasia Lenhardt who committed suicide on February 9, 2021 at the age of 25. On his son’s sixth birthday. This is the first time Jérôme Boateng has commented publicly on this and it is “very difficult” for him.
Boateng was in a relationship with the former “Germany’s Next Top Model” candidate and influencer from 2019 to early 2021. According to reports, he was allegedly forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). Therefore, she is not allowed to speak openly about her relationship with Boateng. He has now denied this and claims that the NDA only gave it at their request. He could no longer oppose this.
“What’s important for me to say is that I really love Kasia. We are very happy and unfortunately things didn’t work out the way we both imagined,” he explained. And he still mourns her. You want to believe it, but can you? But Boateng admitted one mistake: an interview he gave to the “Bild” newspaper a week before Lenhardt committed suicide and in which he made serious accusations against Lenhardt. Among other things, he “blackmailed” the relationship and he only did it out of fear, he claims there. After that, Lenhardt was overwhelmed by a wave of hatred and even received death threats. “What is clear and obvious to me is that in hindsight, I misjudged the situation and should have dealt with it better, in a different way. That will stay with me for the rest of my life, that I made that mistake,” he says now.
Critical approaches are addressed
However, this purification is at odds with the actual handling of the situation, which is at least partially mentioned in the documentary. Boateng claims that in reality, the decision was taken based on the principle of “the benefit of the doubt for the defendant” – also because the injured party and sole witness, Kasia Lenhardt, is no longer alive.
Shortly after Lenhardt’s trial ended, a photo emerged on social media showing him with, of all people, Rammstein frontman Till Lindemann. A man who can also be said to be controversial because of his treatment of female fans. For some people, this is just a snippet, but others see it as a mockery of people who are alleged to be victims of domestic and sexual violence, as can be clearly seen in the comments column on social media. What do they really want to express through this post? The documentary asks this question, but doesn’t answer it.
First of all, there is no career at Bayern
In the end, the duration of 3 x 40 minutes is strong evidence that the so-called “cancel culture” is basically a fighting term thrown around by certain actors every time someone behaves inappropriately and has to suffer the consequences. In most cases, it doesn’t actually exist. There are those who give sold-out concerts in huge arenas, there are those who continue to play politics, there are still those who are still allowed to say things on TV that “you are no longer allowed to say today.” And Jérôme Boateng is celebrated as both a hero and a victim of circumstance in a documentary that is only critical.
The fact that Jérôme Boateng did not return to Bayern Munich for an internship was not due to the club and his boss, but rather to the fans. In fact, the task was already dry, but when massive resistance emerged, including large protest posters in the stadium, they rowed again. What will happen next for Boateng – who has said he is eyeing a coaching career – remains an open question. But this documentary may not be the worst app video.
“Being Jérôme Boateng” will air on November 21 at 11:55 p.m. KST. (part 1) on ARD and is also available in the ARD media library.
