Kim & Kerner

Racism scandal and brawl at the Opera Ball

(Bild: Andreas Tischler, APA/HERBERT PFARRHOFER, puls4.com)

Puls 4 presenter Chris Stephan shocked Kardashian at the Opera Ball.

(Bild: Puls 4)

The 58th Vienna Opera Ball is history. This time it wasn't just on the dance floor that things got hot and heavy, as the sparks flew outside Richard Lugner's box. Kim Kardashian was apparently racially insulted and there was also a brawl involving the German presenter Johannes B. Kerner.

The scandal made it big in the US media: according to the gossip portal "TMZ", a man in blackface pretended to be Kim Kardashian's fiancé Kanye West at the State Opera.

The man turned out to be the Pulse 4 prankster Chris Stephan (picture 2), who also outed himself as a Kanye West copy on his Facebook page with a photo as proof: "The N-word is bullshit, it's not true, that was the little German Oli P. But at least we made it into the American press ... Cheers to Kanye West", he wrote there.

Puls 4's statement on the incident
Nobody had expected that this action would cause such a stir, which finally forced the broadcaster to issue a statement on Friday afternoon. "As every year, comedian Chris Stephan has come up with a special costume for the Opera Ball. Last year he already went as Silvio Berlusconi," the letter reads. And further: "In order to get an interview with star guest Kim Kardashian, he pretended to be her fiancé Kanye West this year. The fact that he painted his face dark was part of the disguise and not an act of racism. Nor did he in any way intend to offend Ms. Kardashian. The broadcaster Puls 4 and Chris Stephan would like to apologize for the misleading action."

Stephan himself said on Friday evening in the program "Guten Abend Österreich": "Unfortunately, that went completely in the pants. I would like to officially apologize if I offended anyone."

Pocher irritated with "Niggas" joke
But it wasn't just Chris Stephan who caused amazement at the Opera Ball, but also Oliver Pocher. In conversation with Mirjam Weichselbraun, Pocher said in front of the ORF cameras that he might still be dancing, but was waiting for "Niggas in Vienna", which briefly caused a stir in the Twitter community.

"Did Pocher really say the N-word live on ORF?" asked one user. "Was probably a reference to Kanye West's song 'Niggas in Paris'", clarified another. The song was recorded together with Jay Z. "The joke went down the drain", said the users in unison. These insults were the reason Kardashian left the ball very early.

Brawl in front of the Lugner box
A little later, a fight broke out in front of Lugner's box: German presenter Johannes B. Kerner had just left the box when an older man stood up in front of him and shouted at him: "Who paid for your ticket? Explain yourself! You're the new Wulff!" As the conversation got louder and louder, even Lugner came out of his box to settle the argument. "I don't know who that is," he said.

While the presenter tried to calm the man down and turned to leave, the ball guest threw a champagne glass after the presenter. One of the presenter's companions then lost his patience. He hit the man with his fist on the lower left side of his face, causing a bleeding wound that was treated by a doctor on the spot.

Charge for punching 
The day after the ball, the punch in front of Lugner's box also led to a police investigation. Police spokeswoman Barbara Riehs confirmed that there had been a corresponding incident inside the State Opera. Charges had therefore also been filed.