In April 2015, a weekly magazine published the headline “Günther Jauch shock confession: Is his marriage in crisis?” on the front page next to a picture of the presenter and his wife.
The presenter then demanded a counterstatement.

Headline is a statement of fact

According to a press release, on 09.09.2015 (Ref.: 6 U 110/15), the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe confirmed a decision already made by the Regional Court of Baden-Baden in favor of the moderator.

In the opinion of the 6th Civil Senate, which is responsible for press law among other things, the headline contained the factual assertion that Günther Jauch had confessed to something with regard to his marriage.
Accordingly, the TV presenter had a claim against the publisher for the requested counterstatement “I have confessed nothing in connection with my marriage”.
This was to be printed in the appropriate font size on the front page of the weekly magazine.

No justification by statement in television program

The content of the counterstatement was also not obviously incorrect due to a statement made by Jauch during a television program.
The presenter had said to a candidate in response to his comments about his marriage that he would marry again if his marriage was “crumbling”.
However, according to the judges, the presenter had not commented on the state of his own marriage.

Furthermore, the counterstatement on the front page awarded by the Regional Court was not unreasonable in its scope.

Jauch thus prevails once again in press law proceedings, also before the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe.