In light of the recent #MeToo movement, and the general willingness of those sharing their stories of sexual misconduct, there have been a lot of stories of powerful men (primarily) in the film industry, who have been inappropriate. One of those men is Peter Aalbaek Jensen, from Danish production company Zentropa (and producer/business partner for Lars von Trier). However, you don’t need to worry about him sexually harassing anymore. Apparently, he’s learned his lesson. Sort of.
Jensen was the subject of several allegations from former employees at Zentropa that he bullied and harassed them. Due to these allegations, Zentropa had to write up some new anti-harassment guidelines. And according to an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Jensen sees the error of his ways and is going to change.
“I’ve always been a cheerful guy and I’ve been slapping the asses of guys and girls at the company for 20 years, but I never tried to fuck anyone,” Jensen said. “But these days that is seen differently than it was 5, 10, 15 years ago … so I’ll stop slapping asses.”
THR also goes on to say that they’ve seen a report from Danish authorities and they “closed its investigation against Zentropa and concluded the company has taken sufficient steps to ensure a safe and appropriate working environment.”
So, apparently, this admission of wrongdoing and accountability moving forward from Jensen, combined with the new guidelines, seems to be enough for the authorities to move on from the Zentropa case. Jensen was the CEO of Zentropa, but stepped down in 2016. He still serves as a producer and board member. He and von Trier combine for a 25% stake in the company.
Jensen is listed as an executive producer on von Trier’s latest film “The House That Jack Built,” which has its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.