Called anger towards Settman after the kiss in SVT: “Outrageous – reprehensible”

On Oct 31, 2023

Called anger towards Settman after the kiss in SVT: “Outrageous – reprehensible”
CHARLOTTE KALLA
Published Oct 31, 2023 at 12:01 a.m,updated at 09:58

Call injured during TV4 recording: “Became so very angry”

01:04
Call injured during TV4 recording: “Became so very angry”

Peter Settman kisses Charlotte Kalla during the Sports Gala 2008.
Photo: SVT

Charlotte Kalla.
Photo: CARL SANDIN / BILDBYRÅN

Peter Settman.
Photo: CORNELIA NORDSTRÖM

It is one of the most famous moments of the Sports Gala.

In her book “Skam den som ger sig”, Charlotte Kalla tells for the first time honestly how she felt when she was kissed out of nowhere by Peter Settman.

“What I was involved in live in front of an audience of millions felt outrageous and reprehensible,” Kalla writes in the book.

– I really apologize, says Peter Settman to SVT .

A young Charlotte Kalla has had her big international breakthrough. As the first Swede ever, she won the overall victory in the Tour de Ski and will be celebrated at the Sports Gala in 2008. She sits at the same table as, among others, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but no matter how famous her table guests were, it was she who would end up in focus.

During a Ronny & Ragge sketch on location, host Peter Settman steps forward and kisses Kalla on the mouth. It came out of nowhere and is held to this day as one of the most famous moments in the history of the gala.

– I didn’t really know what to expect. I got a shock when the kiss came, Kalla told Aftonbladet afterwards.

Charlotte Calla’s anger towards Peter Settman: “Reprehensible”
Then and there, most of the talk was about whether Kalla risked getting sick from the kiss or not.

In her book “Skam den som ger sig”, Charlotte Kalla gives for the first time her honest view of what happened.

“It was not fun at all to get that kiss. He grabbed my face, held it and gave me a kiss right on the mouth. He really caught me off guard. What I was involved in live in front of an audience of millions felt outrageous and reprehensible. My integrity took a real hit and I thought: ‘God, how difficult'”, writes Kalla.

In two different interviews with Aftonbladet after the gala, Settman says that he does not regret what he did.

Settman also believes that he would do it again, and says that Kalla was aware of what would happen.

– It was fun to drive a little with Kalla, she was in on it, Settman said then.

Kalla fights back against the claim: “Never got the question”
According to Kalla, it is pure fabrication on Settman’s part.

“Peter Settman went into his Ronny character when he kissed me. Many who worked on the gala must have read the script and approved it. But I was never asked if I wanted to play along, ” she writes.

This was Kalla’s first time at the Sports Gala and she writes in the book that she didn’t know how to react when it happened.

“I got really angry but didn’t know how to behave. Was I even allowed to be angry? Could I get up and go? Those thoughts were spinning. I was expected to laugh. So I laughed. Today, I would have reacted in a completely different way”.

Expressen has for a week sought Peter Settman for a comment.

In an interview with SVT, he responds to Kalla’s criticism and apologizes.

– I almost only get feelings of unease. That absolutely did not land well, he says to SVT .

Settman explains that the kiss was improvised and not in any script.

– 2008, it’s been a while, it’s been 15 years. It sounds like not that long ago, but it was a long time ago, culturally speaking. I had thought in a different way (today) when I did the improvisation. It’s just not fun today, says Settman.

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