Profile

Gender

Male

Born

1961-01-14 （Switzerland）

Nationality

スイス, Switzerland

Languages

German

Religion

Unknown

Residence History

Switzerland → Germany

Career

Occupations

journalist

Active Years

1990-

Affiliations

Süddeutsche Zeitung, Der Spiegel, Stern, Tages-Anzeiger, Berner Zeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

Influenced

Jayson Blair, Stephen Glass

Awards & Nominations

Style & Themes

Literary Style

gonzo journalism stylefabricated celebrity profilesinjections of literary references

Recurring Motifs

outrageous celebrity confessionsquotes from authors like Nietzsche and Kierkegaard

Legacy

Swiss journalist infamous for publishing fabricated interviews with celebrities like Courtney Love, Mike Tyson, and Brad Pitt in major German and Swiss publications, leading to a major scandal. Publishers issued apologies, but he defended it as 'montage reporting.' Subject of the 2011 documentary Bad Boy Kummer.

Quotes

• Interviews are an art form. Only people in Switzerland still believe that they have to be true word for word.

  Source: Berner Zeitung (2000)

Trivia

• Published fake interviews with celebrities including Courtney Love, Mike Tyson, Sharon Stone, Brad Pitt
• Süddeutsche Zeitung apologized calling it 'a betrayal of monumental proportions'
• Previously fired in 1990 for fabricated story
• Editors pressured correspondents to match his celebrity access, leading to lack of verification