Culture in Slovakia is currently experiencing perhaps one of the most turbulent periods in recent decades. The main problem should be the critical state of financing and management of the department under the leadership of Martina Šimkovičová. Publicly known personalities, including actors, speak openly against the department of culture. Ján Koleník is one of them. The Minister of Culture openly admitted what she thinks about the actor in a podcast hosted by the son of the well-known ex-politician Richard Sulík.
The well-known sex symbol repeatedly criticized the Minister of Culture Martina Šimkovičová for her controversial statements and actions in the resort. His emotional message from the spring of this year resonated most prominently during the live broadcast of the dance show Let’s Dance on Markíza TV.
“I also want to say that in times when certain groups are trying to liquidate culture in Slovakia, the situation is really not good for culture. Note that this program has given opportunity to so many talented people this evening, we thank you for that Pepe (dance show director Pepe Majeský, editor’s note). Both your theater and the dancers, but there are really groups that are not as visible as we were visible tonight, and we should be in solidarity with them,” he declared in the fourth round.
Šimkovičová openly admits that she does not know what problem the actor has with her. “I don’t know what I took from Koleník, he could say that. But maybe he feels that way, due to the pressure of those people who are around him, who go to those protests. But he is, paradoxically, a person who is doing very well” she said flatly.
The Minister of Culture also worked on Markíza TV for 18 long years. So he can tell from his own experience how things are. “If I were to go back to the past, in which I worked in radio or television, then paradoxically I had a better financial situation than today. So I made more money than the minister. I’m not saying that I earn little, but…” she opened a topic that probably interests everyone.
It’s no secret how much she earns as Minister of Culture. “This is publicly available. We have frozen salaries, but flat-rate compensations are increasing. Now it goes to my account… What will be charged to my account? Now the last one was on 7400. So when I worked in private television, it was financially very interesting,” she surprised with her honesty.
In her opinion, the famous actor is similar. “And I think that Mr. Koleník finds it financially interesting. So I don’t know where his culture falls, because he was in a well-watched program,” you dug into him.
Conflicting assumptions sometimes spread in society, whether actors are expressing their own thoughts or someone is dictating to them what to declare. “I don’t know, let those people specify, because they still talk in such general phrases. Culture is falling, culture is being destroyed by an incompetent person, we have to put an end to it and finally save culture. But I still don’t know where it falls, because culture never falls. The culture will be here even if we are not. And the culture lives on. Theaters live, galleries live, museums live. That’s probably the part of the culture where certain people parasitizedŠimkovičová did not take napkins.
Many women consider Koleník a sex symbol. Does the current Minister of Culture also agree with this statement? “I think he’s a handsome man,” she said honestly. She further added that she is not among the most beautiful in her ranking. However, she did not reveal who she perceives that way…
