A Danish comedian was tricked into a Truman Show-style prank when he was secretly filmed for four months.
Significant public backlash to the 'cruel' stunt forced a public broadcaster to apologise and remove the show from its services.
Rasmus Wallbridge, a comedian and actor in his mid-30s, was tricked into believing that he was directing a comedy-horror film – something he had long dreamed of doing.
But the whole thing was a charade. In reality, 149 people – including some of his closest friends and celebrities – were acting, pretending to make the film alongside him while knowing Rasmus was being secretly recorded.
It took Rasmus away from his family for four months when he had just welcomed a newborn.
The show, called Alle elsker Rasmus (Everyone Loves Rasmus), was split into six episodes and broadcast on TV2, one of the country's main state-owned channels.
Its format was roughly the same as the 1998 Hollywood classic The Truman Show – in which Jim Carrey's character lives his entire life in a fake world created by a production company, which is streamed every day to a TV audience, without his knowledge.
The Danish public was outraged by the show, seeing it not as a fascinating psychological experiment but as 'bullying' or torture.
Anna Lin, a prominent TV host and influencer, demanded to know how the programme could have been created in the first place.
'The programme Everyone Loves Rasmus should be called "Everyone Bullies Rasmus", because that's what they do,' she said in a social media video.
Rasmus Wallbridge was secretly filmed for four months of his life, while believing he was directing movie
Footage was actually being collected to make a show called Everyone Loves Rasmus - though he had no idea
Denmark's culture minister, Zenia Stampe, condemned the show as a 'clear violation' of TV2's own ethical guidelines.
She said: 'I have looked at TV2's guidelines. They actually write very clearly that all participants have the right to know the framework and theme of the recordings they participate in,' Ms Stampe told Danmarks Radio (DR), another public broadcaster.
'Therefore, this is also a clear violation of TV 2's own internal ethical guidelines.'
Ms Stampe added that TV2 had failed in their responsibility as a public service broadcaster.
The furore even drew a response from Denmark's prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, who said she had not watched the show, but called it a 'rather unfortunate affair'.
She said it should make the country think about 'what we want to publish as a journalistic media outlet'.
At the end of the show, viewers saw the moment when Rasmus was told about the prank, and he realised his last four years had been a lie.
He was seen to break out in laughter – though some viewers accused the show of recycling a clip from earlier in the series.
Friends and celebrities conspired to deceive Rasmus, when they themselves were acting the whole time
Rasmus has kept a low profile since the show, saying he wants to focus on an upcoming project
According to the director, Rasmus was closely followed by a psychologist throughout his time appearing in the show.
It was also said that Rasmus was given the option to veto the series being broadcast, after filming had wrapped up.
But TV2 has now apologised for creating the show, removed it from its platforms, and launched an internal investigation into how the project was given the go-ahead.
Ulla Pors, chief content officer at TV2, said: 'The series should never have been made, and therefore it should never have been broadcasted.'
Kasper Fredshavn, CEO of Drive Studios, the production company behind the show, apologised to Wallbridge.
He said: 'The intention was to create a different type of comedy series, but the format went too far. We should have been better at understanding Rasmus's situation – even after filming ended.'
Many of those who contributed to the illusion have expressed remorse at having taken part.
Rasmus wrote on Instagram on Sunday that he would be keeping a low profile in the wake of the show, ahead of a show set to premiere later this month.
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