El Hotzo: an overview of the entire controversy surrounding the satirist
You could almost skip the explanation of who El Hotzo actually is. After all, you get the impression that he has almost two million followersandPretty much every second person who is on the German-speaking Internet follows.
So just a quick look at the facts: El Hotzo is actually called Sebastian Hotz and has made a name for himself with satirical tweets and memes about current political and social events, which he posts on Twitter and others-sharing platforms. His attitude is classically left-wing: our problems, the, the inertia of our systems of government – and patriarchy.
El Hotzo is particularly good at cracking jokes about the patriarchy and is described as someone who is “famous for being woke.” After cryptic accusations from his ex-girlfriend, Sebastian Hotz comes forward with an apology: As a man in a position of power, he took advantage of it and took full advantage of the advantages of the patriarchy.
This realization seems to have surprised his followers quite a bit.
You can read what exactly happened here:
Sebastian Hotz: This tweet criticizes the real man behind the fictional character El Hotzo
By the way, Sebastian Hotz has always been criticized in recent years, but mostly from the conservative and right-wing spectrum of the Internet. So only in 2024, when heafter the attempted assassination of the entrepreneur, who was (now) re-elected US President, compared with the last bus of the evening. Unfortunately, both would be missed.
A tweet that was even quoted by Elon Musk - and which ultimately led to the rbb-Collaboration with the satirist terminated. Bad publicity, you might think, but not for El Hotzo's target audience. For them, the whole campaign once again made the author the Robin Hood of the oppressed. The satirist also got a new job straight away - and was even allowed to go to the USA with RTL and with the support of Jan Böhmermannand report there.
This time, however, the criticism comes from within your own bubble. Starting with an ex-girlfriend who wrote the following on together, who is famous for being woke, but has been systematic in his private life for yearslies and cheats and leaves them with deep mental problems.”
Fans of the author quickly realized who this man famous for being “woke” was supposed to be, and a fan account asked for a statement online – which he received.
This is El Hotzo's apology
Sebastian Hotz then commented on a related post on the topic with a clear admission: “Very briefly: that’s true,” he agreed. And not just with the one ex-partner who made the original accusation post. Also in othersHe was unfaithful, entangled in lies to his partners and benefited from his power as a prominent man. "I have,, manipulated and talked about exclusivity, stalled women and kept relationships secret so as not to be exposed.” The statement has now been made by El Hotzo's PR team toSpiegelidentified as genuine.
Now you could say, so far, so good: There is someone who publicly admits to his toxic behavior and apologizes.
But some influencers see the problem somewhere else: because this very man has benefited from acting as if he was above the power games of the patriarchal world that he repeatedly criticizes.
El Hotzo himself describes this contrast in his third tweet: “I represent completely different values publicly, while privately I have acted completely oppositely.”
The author signs the thread with “Sebastian” – as if he wanted to distance himself from the fictional character El Hotzo again and focus on the fact that he is speaking privately here.
Why these influencers are now strongly criticizing El Hotzo despite his apologetic statement
Influencers like Madeleine Alizadeh, who, among other things, posts content about fair fashion, the desire to have children and images of women on Instagram under the name “dariadaria”, are now strongly criticizing El Hotzo because his behavior is systematic.
The allegations: They happen again and again, who benefited from feminism as a marketing strategy, while women would be punished for the exact same content.
Or as Marsha Richarz pointedly puts it in a slam text on the topic: There are left-wing men who wear feminism like a label.
What makes these women who are now criticizing El Hotzo angry is that none of this is new. But you wouldn't have expected this from a man like El Hotzo because he made “feminism his brand”.
But in addition to the misconduct that these outwardly reflective men display, one must also take into account how they are treated uncritically, says Madeline Alizadeh.
In his comments you can read one key word in particular: double standards. But for those who have been grappling with the patriarchy for some time, the surprise you read from some Hotzo fans online in response to his statement will seem strange.
The question we are left with after the whole controversy is: Don't we already know better than to confuse a satirical fictional character on the Internet with the real persona?
One thing is clear: for all cis dudes to achieve real feminist change, it takes a lot longer than building a reputation as a good satirist.
It is questionable whether El Hotzo – or Sebastian Hotz – will respond to the ongoing criticism again or whether his reputation has actually been damaged.
