The publishers of German gossip magazine Die Aktuelle have released a statement apologising to Michael Schumacher’s family, whilst they also confirmed that the magazine’s editor had been immediately fired.
The Funke media group announced that Die Aktuelle editor-in-chief Anne Hoffmann had been fired, after the magazine published a story based on the seven-time World Champion.
Schumacher appeared on the front cover of the magazine, with the headline ‘Michael Schumacher, the first interview’.
The so-called ‘interview’ was created using AI similar to the likes of ChatGPT.
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To further add to the controversy of the ridiculous piece, the strapline added that the interview “sounded deceptively real”.
The piece left the F1 community furious, whilst it was revealed by Schumacher’s family that they were planning on taking legal action against the magazine.
Schumacher’s life is kept very much away from the media, with his and his family’s privacy having been respected ever since his horrific skiing accident in December 2013.
Rare insights into his life are sometimes given by former FIA president and Ferrari team principal Jean Todt, who was in charge of the Maranello-based team when Schumacher raced for the Italians.
The world also got somewhat of an idea of his family’s life now in the 2021 Netflix documentary ‘Schumacher’, which is all about the 91-time race winner’s career, where his wife revealed that they “do everything we can to make Michael better”.
“We live together at home. We do therapy. We do everything we can to make Michael better and to make sure he’s comfortable, and to simply make him feel our family, our bond,” Corinna Schumacher said in a 2021 Netflix documentary.
“We’re trying to carry on as a family, the way Michael liked it and still does. And we are getting on with our lives.”
Funke media released their official apology on its website, where they labelled the disgusting piece as “tasteless and misleading”.
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“This tasteless and misleading article should never have appeared. It in no way meets the standards of journalism that we and our readers expect from a publisher like Funke,” said Funke magazines managing director Bianca Pohlmann.
“As a result of the publication of this article, immediate personnel consequences will be drawn.
“Die Aktuelle editor-in-chief Anne Hoffmann, who has held journalistic responsibility for the paper since 2009, will be relieved of her duties as of today.”