Author: bestmedeal

Entre argentinos y mexicanos fútbol no hubo. El partido no se dirimió enQatar, sino en OK Corral. Tiros, muchos, pero no de los que van a puerta.Argentinos y mexicanos se retaron a un duelo marcial, con mucho palo y sobradode mojigatería. No faltaron los guantazos, tampoco las repentinas muertestransitorias, con algún que otro farsante. El duelo, intemperante desde elinicio, iba de cornada en cornada. Alguna espantosa, como la de Néstor Araujoa Acuña. O la venganza de Acuña sobre Álvarez. Elija usted, lecturer, la leñaque quiera. Catalog no le faltara. Había piquetes por todos los lados.

Mucha zurra y poco juego, fútbol de garrafón. Mas bien la nada oscura. MacizaMéxico, convaleciente Argentina, a las dos selecciones le parecieron lasporterías un borroso espejismo durante 70 minutos. Todo era de safari, caza acaza con arsenic en las botas.

Mas informacion

Sin camisas de fuerza, todos iban desatados, salvo uno. Entre tanta gravedad,solo Messi intentaba poner una gota de cordura, poner el combate entreparéntesis y dar paso al fútbol. And esa faceta no hubo gregario que lesecundara y el partido discurrió de trinchera en trinchera.

Intervino Lionel Scaloni con cinco cambios en laparación, con hasta tresmudanzas en la retaguardia —entraron Montiel, Lisandro y Acuña—, un relevo enel gabinete de medio campo —Guido por Paredes, aún tuvo carrete el errático DePaul— y otro en el costado izquierdo —Mac Allister por Papu Gómez—. Sinremedio, la misma albiceleste desteñida que se fue a la cuneta ante Arabia. ElTata Martino a lo suyo con México, con tres centrals firmes en el tendal, pocacháchara a la pelota y sin otro afán que alguna casualidad en ataque. Por nohaber, no hubo ni casualidades. No se le dio a Vega, que a un parpadeo deldescanso ejecutó una falta directa que atrapó en vuelo Dibu Martínez. Ni otrareseña ofensiva del arisco primer acto.

El desahogo albiceleste resultó evidente y el discurso del seleccionador tuvomás de emocional que de futbolístico. Se puso a analizar los ajustes tácticosque habían realizado tras el descanso, con la entrada de Enzo Fernández enlugar de Guido Rodríguez en el medio, pero las vísceras terminaron dominandoel mensaje. “Es emocionante redeem jugar. Quien no se sienta identificado conellos es porque no quiere a la selección. Lamentablemente, no es lo mismojugar con esta camiseta que con otras. Estoy orgulloso y emocionado de lo quehan hecho”, apuntó Scaloni, que volvió a desatarse ya lanzar un discurso sobreel excesivo dramatismo que rodea históricamente a su equipo cuando unperiodista le mencionó la imagen de Pablo Aimar, su ayudante, roto en elbanquillo por la tension cuando la victoria ya estaba hecha.

“Habría que tener un poco más de sentido común y pensar que es solo un partidode fútbol. Ahora recibo un mensaje de mi hermano, llorando, que se había idoal campo y no había escuchado el encuentro. No puede ser. La sensación es quete estás jugando algo más que un partido. No lo comparto. Eso mismo sientenlos jugadores cuando salen a la cancha. Me parece que tenemos que corregirlo.De lo contrario, cada que vez que tengas que pasar una eliminatoria con laselección, va a ser así. Es difícil hacer entender a la gente que mañana saleel sol, se gane o se pierda. Lo importante es intentarlo”, desarrolló.

Durante todo ese tiempo Argentina, lo reconoceras, se cuidó mucho de abusar.Fue una exhibición: los muchachos se pasaron los 45 minutos sin patear alarco, tratando de correr lo menos posible para no molestar –y sobre todo noofender. Tenían muy claro que no debían dar más de cuatro pases seguidosporque eso sí que agravia y ultraja, y hasta aceptaron que jugara De Paul paraequilibrar aún más las cosas. Ustedes, debo decir, contribuyeron comopudieron: en lo de evitar pases y ataques fueron casi argentinos pero, con unaconcepción distinta de la unión bolivariana, pegaban sin parar: en ese primertiempo nos hicieron el doble de fouls henchidos todos de entusiasmo, yencima corrían como perros enjaulados.

Pero aún así lo conseguimos: todo un tiempo sin ningún chispazo, un tiempo quefue un ejemplo de amistad entre los pueblos, solidaridad de los más débiles,respeto mutuo, casi una mañanera. Un tiempo que tuvo incluso detallesentrañables, como ese tiro libre de Vega en el minuto 42, cuando el arqueroargentino, el nunca bien ponderado Señor Dibu, le pidió que lo ayudara ahacerse una buena foto para colgar en Instagram.

Ese primer tiempo, Tu Excelencia, me llenó de gozo. Ciertos retrogrados diránque fue feo, torpe, grosero, grotesco, aburridísimo; los reaccionarios quenunca faltan hablarán de miedo, del pavor que los atenazaba y demás clichés:sabemos qué móviles los mueven. Esos que cuestionan su estética inmarcesibleson los que todavía, más de un siglo después, no han querido entender lamáxima imperecedera del perecedero Vladimir Ilich Uliánov cuando dijo que “laética será la estética del futuro”. Este despliegue de ética que implicó eseprimer tiempo fue una estética nueva, revolucionaria, digna de aquel padre.Los soviets de San Petersburgo lo habrían festejado con bombos y con bombas.

Después, en el segundo tiempo, hélas, se inmiscuyó el capitalismo. Siempresucede, ultimamente. De pronto algunos –argentos, sobre todo– empezaron apensar en el lucro, el beneficio, y abandonaron la solidaridad. Ciertosescrúpulos, es cierto, los atenazaban todavía: lo hacían, no lo hacían, lohacían, no lo hacían, lo

hacian mal. Hasta que el ex Messi se acordó por un momento de que lo era –yserlo es buscar la ganancia en todas partes– y le pegó rasito ya ese palo.

Fue, lo reconozco, Tu Excelencia, una traición: a partir de ahí todosconsideraron roto cualquier compromiso, cualquier solidaridad o lealtad y selanzaron a trizarlos. Ahí, lo debes asumir, los tuyos no dieron la talla: seme hace que son mejores para la lealtad que para la felonía, y no supieroncomo llevarla a cabo. Gloria y loor, entonces, a esos hermanos mexicanos que,esclavos de sus convicciones, nunca se decidieron a romper del todo. A veces,el precio de la morales la derrota: es entonces cuando realmente vale.

Así que no me queda, Tu Excelencia, más que felicitarte. Fueron mejores quenosotros en todo –en ética, en coherencia, en integridad– y solo los superamosen perfidia: dos golcitos. Reconcerás que, sin embargo, por un resto de pudor,los dos pepinos no fueron laboriosamente construidos sino meros zapatazos,como para alivianar su peso deshonesto: incluso los conversos redomados tenensus pruritos. Y debemos aceptar que el segundo, el del joven Fernández, fuepara ponerlo en un marco con volutas –junto con su cara de felicidadinenarrable cuando su jefe lo abrazó.

Hace unos años murió un amigo y su esposa descubrió en el funeral que habíatenido una hija fuera del matrimonio. Para salir de su desconcierto, reunió alos tres mejores amigos del difunto, entre los que me encontraba. Conasombrosa compostura hizo la temida pregunta: “¿Por qué no me lo dijo?” El máselocuente de nosotros contestó: “Quería hacerlo, pero no encontró laoportunidad”. “¡¿No encontró la opportunidad en doce años?!”, respondió la

El caso Jiménez ha agitado la gestión de un Tata Martino que le convocó pese apasar 77 días lesionado en 2022, días antes del arranque del Mundial. Lainactividad le ha cobrado factura a un jugador que, en sus buenos tiempos, erade los más efectivos en la Premier League con los Wolves. Su romance de golesterminó de forma súbita cuando un duro cabezazo contra David Luiz le llevó aurgencias para tratar una fractura de cráneo. Jimenez sorteó la muerte demilagro. Su historia, liderazgo y jerarquía le valieron a Martino para hacerleinamovible en su equipo. La sequía de goles de México en el Mundial no se veíadesde Chile 1962 cuando no pudo anotarle a Brasil ni a España en los primerosdos juegos, pero sí pudo vencer 3-1 a Checoslovaquia. Esa vez no superó laprimera ronda.

Claro, los goles no siempre son del nueve. Alexis Vega intentó en dos opcionesabrir el marcador a favor de México contra Argentina: un tiro libre y un chutede larga distancia. And ambos no tuvo fortuna. Hirving Lozano, el velocistadel Nápoles, ha aportado más pases que tiros a puerta.

When the Danish women’s handball team quickly falls behind in a match a fewyears ago, the coach asks for a time-out. Then the man goes completely crazy,as shown in a YouTube video. He continues to rant at his players, some of whomlook increasingly anxious.

Coaching can also be less authoritarian, says Henk Groener, handball coach andteacher at the Johan Cruyff Institute. “The best example are the Norwegianwomen’s handball. They themselves bear responsibility for their developmentand performance, by thinking along and consulting with each other. The coachguides that alone, with his or her own expertise.”

The Norwegians have been doing it this way for 35 years and have becomeEuropean champions nine times in that time, says Groener: “That team is almostimpossible to beat.” The Danish coach left not long after his tirade, due tolack of success – and because of his behaviour. It illustrates how theauthoritarian leader is disappearing in top sport. “Not just there,” saysGroener, “you see it throughout society.”

Indeed, there are signs that the bully boss era is coming to an end.Significant is the hard fall of TV presenter Matthijs van Nieuwkerk afterrevelations in de Volkskrant that he is employees of the talk show _DWDD_frequently denigrated. Another example that aggressive leadership is no longeraccepted is the recently announced investigation into the way in which KhadijaArib, as Speaker of the House of Representatives, dealt with civil servants.

Read also: The inequality of power in the workplace is great in Hilversum

“Tolerance for bully behavior is decreasing,” confirms organizationalpsychologist Aukje Nauta, professor at Leiden University. She notices thisduring the training she gives at organizations. “The discussions there are nowa lot about psychological safety.” She sees this in the report that the KNAW,the highest scientific body, recently published on social safety atuniversities: ‘Such a report would probably not have been published twentyyears ago. Then we accepted that the professor was simply the highest in rankand was therefore allowed a little now and then bully. Much less now.”

The “truly legendary bullies have also died out in healthcare”, says retiredinterventional radiologist Menno Sluzewski. He wrote a letter to the editorearlier this week NRC about these figures, mostly surgeons: “Scissors,tweezers and humiliations flew through the air and assistants often left thetheater crying. These bullies were tolerated well into the last century. Notanymore.”

That is not only his own impression, says Sluzewski, but also that of numerouscolleagues and former colleagues. He himself was barked at during an operationduring his training (as he remembers: ‘Your only contribution is that youincrease the risk of infection here, so shut up’). Things like that don’thappen anymore, he says. “That whole culture is gone.”

The environment can create the bully boss

That does not mean that the bully practices are suddenly a thing of the pasteverywhere. “The bully behavior itself is not declining,” says Nauta.According to her, this can also be seen in the size and duration of the DWDDissue, which shows the classic characteristics of abuse of power. “A leaderfloats to the surface, partly thanks to our fascination with strong leaders,turns out to be an authoritarian boss in a company with a strong ambition andis ultimately not corrected enough.”

The bully boss is partly created by the organization, psychologists NaomiEllemers and Dick de Gilder, who recently published the book The exemplaryorganization published. Dysfunctional leaders often have certain personalcharacteristics, says De Gilder, associate professor of organizational scienceat the VU University in Amsterdam: “Personality psychologists often refer tothe ‘dark three’: narcissism, Machiavellianism and psychopathy.” According tohim, this “does not mean that all executives who display aggressive behaviorare necessarily narcissists or psychopaths.”

Read the review here the book by Ellemers and De Gilder

It may also be the environment that provokes and perpetuates such undesirablebehaviour, says Ellemers, university professor at Utrecht University and chairof the committee that wrote the KNAW report. “If you are praised from heavenyear after year, you can eventually start thinking yourself that you aregreat. And if no one corrects you when you waltz over someone else, you willmake less and less effort to control your emotions so as not to hurt someoneelse.”

In many workplaces, managers are put on a pedestal, says Ellemers. “Forexample, by giving them sky-high rewards, or granting all kinds of benefits.This literally places the manager in a different category than the ‘ordinary’employees.” De Gilder: “It can, for example, ensure that managers increasinglyget the feeling that ‘ordinary’ rules or manners do not apply to them –because they are so special.”

Anyone who treats executives like stars shouldn’t be surprised if they get> star-like

Fame can be just as corrupting as money, thinks De Gilder. “Those who treatexecutives like stars should not be surprised if they get star-likequalities.” And then less open to criticism, says Ellemers, who refers toscientific research: “All this leads to such a person being less aware of thecontributions of others to success and less about their needs and concerns.”

In the sports world, “our dealings with coaches are also a bit toomanipulative,” says handball coach Groener. According to him, you can see thatnow that the Dutch football team is participating in the World Cup in Qatarunder the leadership of national coach Louis van Gaal. “Van Gaal does not kicka ball into the goal, but it is always about him. Who is he taking? Who setsit up?” Van Gaal himself “treats his players very humanely”, is the impressionof Groener. Van Gaal has spoken disparagingly to journalists on more than oneoccasion.

Illustration Bart Nijstad

Anxiety, stress, sick

Bully bosses can also get their way because of ineradicable misconceptionsabout what constitutes good leadership. For example, the idea that a toughapproach is necessary to achieve absolute top performance is a stubborn one.Think of Elon Musk, who tries to bend Twitter to his will by firing staff andputting them in front of the block by email. Or the foul-mouthed TV chefGordon Ramsay, who showed aspiring chefs all corners of the kitchen – bullyingas a TV format.

In the recent discussion of misconduct, the idea is used as defense andjustification. For example, according to some columnists, Arib would only haveshaken up the dusty civil service in the Chamber. And Van Nieuwkerk wasportrayed in a few statements on Twitter and TV as a driven perfectionist, whocould never have made such a successful talk show without the barking ofemployees.

Bullshit, says Nauta: “Psychological safety is not the opposite of ambition.”According to her, this has been convincingly argued by the American researcherAmy Edmondson in the book The Fearless Organisation (2018), with therevealing subtitle Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace forLearning, Innovation, and Growth. “High ambition with low safety creates aculture of fear. With high safety and high ambition, people dare to admittheir mistakes and they can learn from them, so that they ultimately performbetter.” According to her, Edmondson’s book is now widely used in theNetherlands, including at the Ministry of Justice and Security, customs,universities and hospitals: “It really resonates”.

‘Top sport’? Nonsense. A doctor works under much greater pressure>> Menno Sluzewski retired interventional radiologist

Another ready-made idea is that managing a large company or making a dailytalk show is actually top sport, where there is abuse under great stress. “Topsport? What nonsense,” says Menno Sluzewski. “In hospitals, people often workunder much greater pressure.” Sluzewski himself performed operations on thebulge of an artery in the head for decades: “With a one in twenty chance ofdeath or permanent disability of the patient, so always exciting. A leader hasto be able to handle such pressure.” If someone made a mistake, he discussedit afterwards. “All my colleagues do. That way you teach someone something.”

Explaining it all well, that’s what handball coach Groener did, especially atthe beginning of his career. “Nowadays I let athletes discover it forthemselves; for example, they make video analyzes of the opponent. If theathletes see their development as their own responsibility, they will alsowork on it when you are not there. And on the field they also have to makedecisions themselves, in situations where they have little time. The more theperformance of the athlete himself is, the stronger he is in his shoes.”

This also applies outside the sports world, says Ellemers: “Modern leadershipmodels emphasize how important it is that the leader can evoke a ‘we’ feelingand show employees that they belong. For example, by treating them withrespect and making it clear that their contributions are important for the endresult.” According to her, an authoritarian leadership style iscounterproductive: “There are now all kinds of studies that show how harmfulit is for everyone involved. Employees become anxious and stressed, call insick, or leave.”

Sweet era

The damage to the employees has become a permanent theme in recent mediapublications about the bully bosses. Burnout or trauma is the price they payfor the humiliations they have had to endure, often as punishment for amistake. Van Nieuwkerk making a sound man kneel. Publisher Mai Spijkers who,according to another story, in de Volkskrant employees brushed the cloakwith the rhetorical question ‘what kind of moron are you?’.

This kind of bully behavior leads employees to avoid risk, says Nauta. “AtDWDD they no longer dared to invite new guests.” Because they might not bewell received by the presenter. Sanctioning mistakes only creates fear offailure, says Groener. “We talk too quickly about what goes wrong. Why don’twe talk more about what went well? How can we make sure things go well moreoften. Or the good even better?” According to him, the fixation on mistakesalready starts at school. “The number of mistakes determines your grade. It ismuch more fun to watch: what am I good at? This is how you build people’sself-confidence.”

The Dutch women’s hockey team has already taken that path. Under coach AlysonAnnan, the team achieved many successes, but many players suffered from theunsafe atmosphere. At the beginning of this year, Annan was fired and a coachtook over who worked much more as a supervisor. The hockey women became worldchampions, now much more on their own than before.

That doesn’t mean we’re entering a “sweet era,” says Nauta, who is working ona book about the possible end of bully behavior. “Thanks to the debate onsocial media, the debate on this is moving faster than before. We are allstill learning. It is a civilizing process.”

With the cooperation of Ellen de Bruin

“Ya sé que si usted llama al presidente me echa, pero no hace falta que me lodemuestre todos los días. Ya lo se”.

Tata Martino, una muy buena persona, se enfada cuando se discuten susconocimientos futbolísticos, cosa muy frecuente en sus tiempos de entrenadordel Barça. No olvidará en la vida que después de acudir al entierro de supadre en Rosario y regresar a tiempo para el partido de Liga en Vallecas se lereprochara que su equipo había tenido menos posesión que el Rayo. El marcadorparecia lo de menos: 0-4. La vida del técnico fue muy difícil en el campo deentrenamiento y en la sala de prensa del Camp Nou. La leyenda cuenta muchashistorias sobre su estancia y también sobre su salida del Barça, ninguna tancategórica como la que relató Andoni Zubizarreta, exsecretario técnicobarcelonista, en un diálogo con Vicente del Bosque organizado por EL PAÍS.

Los entrenadores saben que sus contratos dependen también de su relación conMessi y Tata Martino entendió también que tenía muy difícil su continuidad enel Barcelona. Y no solo por el 10. Las cosas no le van mucho mejor alpreparador argentino con México y el gol del rosarino aumentará suvulnerabilidad en Qatar. Messi resucitó y rescató a Argentina el día que sereencontró con el Tata.

La Albiceleste perdió en un abrir y cerrar de ojos un partido que había dadopor ganado contra Arabia Saudí y se había quedado en blanco ante México.Aquella derrota acabó con una racha de 36 partidos invicta y ahora norecordaba cómo jugaba para cantar victoria en escenarios tan exigentes comoMaracaná cuando hace un año ganó la Copa América. Messi no se bastaba solo yel contexto tampoco ayudaba, aturdida como estaba Argentina, convertida en unsaque de nervios en la Copa del Mundo de Qatar.

Alcanzaba con mirar a Messi para saber sobre la suerte de Argentina. Malaseñal cuando la cámara enfocaba su cara porque significaba que no funcionanlos pies del 10. Había muchos ratos en que estaba ausente y cuando tomaba lapelota difícilmente gambeteaba, sabedor de que ya no saldría limpio delregate, de manera que prefería acompañar la jugada , tirar la línea de pase ysolo muy de vez en cuando aceleraba para forzar una falta que tampoco sabíaconvertir después en gol ante el Memo Ochoa.

A sus 35 años y lesionado en el sóleo, no parecía estar en Qatar, cuando DiMaría le puso el balón muy cerca de la frontal del área, y Messi enganchó unremate cruzado con su zurda al poste izquierdo del arco de México. Messi habíafrotado la lámpara, Argentina se desbloqueó, marcó un segundo gol, recordócomo se ganan los partidos y aguarda ahora con ganas a la Polonia deLewndowski. La Albiceleste vuelve a confiar en sus aspiraciones después de queel rosarino festejara emocionado su gol y liberara la tensión de un grupoagarrotado por miedo al fracaso cuando se cumplen dos años de la muerte deMaradona.

Messi evitó la catástrofe de la Albiceleste. Quizá no fue casual que elentrenador del equipo contario fuera el bonachón del Tata Martino, el mismoque un día le recordó en el Camp Nou: “Ya sé que si usted llama al presidenteme echa, pero no hace falta que me lo demuestre todos loose dias. Ya lo se”.

Todo el ímpetu de Dinamarca, la generosidad y la solidaridad en las ayudas yen los apoyos que la caracterizó en los últimos años, se disolvió antes dellegar a la portería de Lloris. Dos factores principales contribuyeron a ello.La buena sintonía de Rabiot con su entorno decentrales e interiores, y laindecisión de Christensen, el libero del trío decentrales daneses. Donde suselección exigía cortar las transiciones francesas con acciones directasrápidas y tajantes en el mediocampo, el defensa del Barça dio un paso atrás.Como and San Siro, solo que sin salir de la cancha. Permaneció sin aparecer, yen su languidez consintió que Francia se sintiera comoda. No solo cuando notenía la pelota, cosa ya sabida, sino cuando la manejaba en búsqueda de huecosen las bandas.

UpdateSamantha Steenwijk proved why in front of 845,000 viewers last night_Secret duets_ would do well to turn on a voice changer with some secretsinging partners. Upon hearing the real voice, she guessed who it was withinseven seconds (!) while the rest of the panel had no idea. “Yeah, sure!”

In the RTL 4 singing show, well-known artists duet with someone they cannotsee. Using the voice and some hints, they have to guess who is on the otherside of a thick wall. That can be a professional vocalist, but also acelebrity who is not known to be able to sing.

In rare cases, the makers also use a distorter. That happens when they fearthat the voice is too recognizable, said presenter Jamai Loman when Hans deBooij recently participated. It happened for the second time last night, asrapper Donnie kicked off the show with his duet.

The guessing panel – tonight consisting of Eva Simons, Frans Bauer, Samanthaand Donnie – could do very little with the clues from the hints video. Therewas a can of black paint. Did that refer to the surname Schilder and was itthe Volendam singer Nick? Samantha thought in the same direction, but thenabout former BZN star Anny.

Neither the voice nor the hints rang a bell with Eva Simons and Frans Bauer inSecret duets. © RTL

Marbles also passed by in the video, which put Frans Bauer on the trail of themarble show marble mania. Was it host Winston Gerschtanowitz? Eva Simonscame with Robert ten Brink, as a heart-shaped pillow was also shown and he_All you need is love_ presents. It later became clear in the studio that itwas a woman, but that was it. The voice, in the first part of the duetsounding like the famous Crazy Frog, did not ring a bell.

In the second part of She knows the deformer went off. Steenwijk needed atotal of seven seconds. “Yeah, sure!” she exclaimed. Samantha couldn’t evenimagine that Eva and Frans didn’t hear it. They were stunned and got nowherewhen Jamai reported as the last hint that the secret singer had a ‘sickhit’. “I listened to this woman so much and sang myself,” said Samantha. “Avoice out of thousands.”

Rapper Donnie did not immediately recognize the voice in Secret duets. © RTL

The black paint turned out to refer to Swart, the real last name of the secretsinger. The heart pillow with arms had to do with Put your arm around me , ahit by the artist from 1983. You use marbles when playing outside, somethingthe singer was once invited to in a song. And whoever scores a ‘sick’ hit, ofcourse calls the doctor, in this case doctor Bernhard from the 1976 hit.Bonnie St. Claire (73) stood behind the wall.

,,No, no, no”, Eva just shouted, who had eventually bet her money on CorryKonings. Frans Bauer didn’t even dare say what he had filled in. The ‘sickhit’ reminded him of the song uncle Jan by Willeke Alberti, in which thesubject cannot be saved by a doctor. So he wrote down Alberti. “I amcompletely astounded, completely of mine by the way “, he said.

Behind the wall in Secret duets was Bonnie St. Claire. © RTL

Bonje Cornelia Swart, as Bonnie is really called, has been in the business for56 years and scored several hits in the 70s and 80s. In recent years shestruggled with alcohol addiction, but nowadays she is sober and has adifferent attitude to life. She feels like she’s only just started, she toldour magazine Mezza.

Watch Bonnie ‘s revelation below, with a piece of Doctor Bernhard:

Bob Dylan issued a rare public statement Friday night to admit that he“regrets” having made “an error in judgment” in using machine technology toaffix duplicate signatures to artwork and books that were advertised and soldas hand-signed over the past three years .

He says the use of autopen signatures only occurred since 2019, when he wasafflicted with a case of vertigo, and on through the pandemic, when he was notable to have staff assist him with the hand-signing he had previously done.Dylan says was given “the assurance that this kind of thing is done ‘all thetime’ in the art and literary worlds.” Now that it has come to light andstirred controversy, the singer-songwriter says, “I want to rectify itimmediately. I’m working with Simon & Schuster and my gallery partners to dojust that.”

More from Variety

Other musicians have been suspected of using autopen for purportedly hand-signed items, and in rare instances have even owned up to it, but the othershave not been selling art prints that routinely sell for $3,000 to $15,000, asDylan’s art prints do. Dylan’s statement indicating that he has used forautopen to sign artwork follows Simon & Schuster’s admission one week ago thata batch of $600 autographed copies of Dylan’s new book, “Philosophy of ModernSong,” had been machine-signed, with refunds immediately offered.

A gallery that has specialized in selling Dylan art prints, the UK-basedCastle Galleries, issued a statement Saturday to say it was “reaching out toeach and every one of our collectors who purchased any print from the(pertinent) editions to offer a solution to fully rectify the matter.”

Story continues

Dylan’s statement, published on his Facebook account, says that he did hand-sign everything that was advertised as such up until 2019. It reads asfollows:

“To my fans and followers, I’ve been made aware that there’s some controversyabout signatures on some of my recent artwork prints and on a limited editionof ‘Philosophy Of Modern Song.’ I’ve hand-signed each and every art print overthe years, and there’s never been a problem,” the statement begins.

“However, in 2019 I had a bad case of vertigo and it continued into thepandemic years. It takes a crew of five working in close quarters with me tohelp enable these signing sessions, and we could not find a safe and workableway to complete what I needed to do while the virus was raging. So, during thepandemic, it was impossible to sign anything and the vertigo didn’t help. Withcontractual deadlines looming, the idea of ​​using an auto-pen was suggestedto me, along with the assurance that this kind of thing is done ‘all the time’in the art and literary worlds.”

Dylan’s statement concludes, “Using a machine was an error in judgment and Iwant to rectify it immediately. I’m working with Simon & Schuster and mygallery partners to do just that. With my deepest regrets, Bob Dylan.”

Bob Dylan’s statement about signatures on Facebook

It’s unknown whether plans to address the artwork situation would involverefunds — which could conceivably run into at least hundreds of thousands ofdollars — or the less costly option of providing replacement prints that aretruly hand-signed, if Dylan is now up to it — or some other unknown option.The “Philosophy of Modern Song” snafu, meanwhile, has already been addressed,with customers who bought the $600 limited edition of 900 books having alreadybeen refunded this week by Simon & Schuster.

Dylan’s reps did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.

Castle Galleries’ statement, also posted on Facebook, reads: “We were informedlate yesterday that during the Covid 19 pandemic Bob Dylan used an autopen tosign several of his limited edition prints rather than his usual handsignature. These editions are: The Retrospectrum Collection prints and theSunset, Monument Valley print which were released by us this year. We canconfirm that all other editions were individually hand signed by Bob Dylanhimself.”

The gallery’s statement continues: “We were entirely unaware of the use ofautopen on these particular prints, and we sincerely apologize for thedisappointment this may cause. We will be reaching out to each and every oneof our collectors who purchased any print from the above editions to offer asolution to fully rectify the matter. Details on how we intend to resolve thismatter will follow shortly.”

Castle Galleries’ statement on Bob Dylan’s signed art

As of Sunday morning in the US, prints of hundreds of different Dylanpaintings were still being advertised on Castle Galleries’ website, and as“hand-signed,” ranging in price from about 2700 pounds for the lowest-pricedindividual print to £14,500.00 (or about $17,500 U.S. dollars) for a boxed setof six. Many, if not most, of these items predate the period in which thesinger-artist says he began using the machine technology, but collectors willno doubt be scrambling to figure out which side of the divide their priorpurchases land on.

The unfolding controversy over Dylan’s use of autopen for items advertised as“personally hand-signed” was magnified by the extent to which his bookpublisher went to great pains to attest to the signatures’ authenticity, evensending the $600 limited-edition “Philosophy of Modern Songs” books out with aletter of authenticity signed by the publisher. Requests for refunds wereinitially refused, as Simon & Schuster continued to attest to the signatures’authenticity, before admitting that a “mistake” had been made Nov. 20 andrefunding hundreds of thousands of dollars in purchases this past week.

Not all fans are upset about the revelations about the signatures. On Dylan’sFacebook post expressing regrets about the autopen signatures, the thousand-plus responses that had been added by Sunday morning were overwhelmingly infavor of the singer, saying the duplications were no big deal to start withand/or that he did a stand- up thing in publicly apologizing. Many sympathizedwith Dylan about the vertigo he described himself as having experienced in2019. (The artist’s statement did not say whether he still suffers from thecondition.)

The website Autograph Live has been integral in tracking what turned out to beeasily detectable duplicate signatures on the books, although there were 17different variants of the signature ultimately detected as users of the sitecompared notes and screenshots.

Soon after the book duplicates came to light, users began comparing signatureson their far more expensive art prints and seemingly finding some identicalsignatures, as well… albeit in what might be called auto-pencil. The generalconsensus on forums so far seems to be a belief that what Dylan said in hisFacebook statement is true — that prints signed prior to 2019 or 2020 doappear to have individually signed.

Dylan’s statement that he has suffered from vertigo is the first time this hasbeen revealed to the public. The singer continues to be active, having resumedhis vigorous touring routine with a highly acclaimed tour.

The post that has become a resource for those looking to compare notes on themachine-generated signatures was created by Jason Hicks, who tells variety ,“Celebrities need to be taught a lesson to stop this autopen practice forgood, for the sake of our hobby. I despise autopen with a passion, which iswhy I spent countless hours creating that post, comparing photos andorganizing as much info as possible. … It’s been a sore thumb in this hobbysince before I was born. If autopen technology advances, there’s a chance itmay become undetectable, which is why we need to end its use asap.”

Van Morrison was recently accused in the forums of using autopen to sign CDs,although his management issued a statement denying it. Sinead O’Connor,however, owned up to doing it with her signed memoir, with no apologies. Inboth these instances, the disputed items were selling for less than $50,limiting the potential for uproar.

“The books which are signed,” said O’Connor, “I signed using a signature stampas I was not in a position to hand write my name ten thousand times, which ishow many I was asked to sign. My son was unwell as was I. So I stamped themmyself. And it is my signature,” she contended. Nevertheless, many retailerswith Drew O’Connor’s “autographed” books, which were selling for about $30,from sale.

Best of Variety

Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook,Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.