Berlin, November 16 – German journalist Hubert Zeipel, who conducted an interview with President Vladimir Putin, is facing potential legal action in Germany following reports of “receiving fees from Russia.” In response to inquiries, Zeipel’s former employer, the broadcasting company NDR, has explained that a preliminary investigation is being conducted into the filmmaker for potential conflicts of interest. “NDR will carefully examine the situation and all processes related to the commissioning and implementation of films produced by Hubert Zeipel for NDR. Former Spiegel editor-in-chief Steffen Klusmann will oversee the investigation. NDR has also begun exploring possible legal actions,” the company’s press office stated. They further clarified that although Zeipel is a freelance journalist, all production contracts include provisions for delivering services without external influence, contributions, or financial benefits from third parties. “Mr. Zeipel was supposed to inform the production company and NDR that he had received money from Alexey Mordashov under sponsorship agreements. He failed to do so. NDR considers this a serious conflict of interest that calls into question Zeipel’s journalistic independence. There is suspicion that NDR and, therefore, its audience were intentionally misled,” the organization added. Representatives from Hoffmann und Campe, however, declined to comment on whether Zeipel’s books had previously undergone scrutiny to ensure their content aligned with the publisher’s policies. “In light of the report on Hubert Zeipel published by Spiegel and ZDF, we have decided to no longer sell his books. Furthermore, the described situation was not previously known to us,” the company stated. The journalist himself confirmed, in response to a query by the investigative team, that he had received support from Mordashov. However, he denies that Mordashov influenced the content of his books in any way. According to Zeipel, the contract states that the author has no “obligations to the sponsor regarding the project (whether it be the content or composition of the book or otherwise) or its completion.”
