Folk music star Stefan Mross (47) comments on an incident with legal consequences last year. After a physical altercation on May 1, 2022 in a Leipzig hotel, preliminary proceedings were initiated against the musician and moderator.

As "Bild" further reports, a spokeswoman for the public prosecutor's office confirmed: "Investigations were carried out into the allegation of bodily harm in combination with attempted coercion. The result of these investigations was sufficient suspicion. The penalty order was issued on November 8, 2022 by the District Court of Leipzig issued."

Since Mross did not appeal, there was no court hearing. Instead, the penalty order became final on November 29, 2022. According to the spokeswoman for the public prosecutor's office, Mross has a criminal record and will be entered in the federal central register. He accepted that. "I didn't feel like having to go to court for such a fool," explains Mross in an interview.

How did the penalty order come about? The evening before a performance near Leipzig, Stefan Mross made an involuntary acquaintance in the hotel restaurant with "a young guy [...] no more than 25 years old," he tells the tabloid. He went up to him and insulted him as a "schlager fuzzi" and "playback artist". Mross still ignored him.

When the TV star made his way to his hotel room after dinner, the man followed him and continued to "insult" him and "made fun of me again". "Just outside my room, I grabbed his shirt collar. He immediately called the police. The officers were there within five minutes. He claimed I had hit him and he felt pressure on his chest," says Mross of the physical altercation . And he emphasizes: "The probability that I'll do something like that is zero. But the guy really got on my nerves. The horses just ran away with me. I'm not proud of that."