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Salsa Circuit
Veteran Hispanic television personality Don Francisco, who is the venerable host of the longest-running Spanish-language television show in the United States, spoke to Chilean daily La Tercera recently about the paternity scandal that enveloped him and his subsequent vindication.
Although the Chilean cleared his name, the fallout from the scandal has left him jaded. "Repairing the damage is impossible. What I suffered has already been suffered," he told La Tercera.
Back in May, Patricio Flores, a man who adamantly claimed the respected television host was his father, said his mother confessed to him on her death bed that it was so. A paternity test was then ordered. Two subsequent DNA tests revealed Flores' claim was false, and the legal battle that ensued dissipated, but not before several months of uncertainty in which Don Francisco was scrutinized by both the press and Flores. Later that month, Don Francisco was even accused of attempting to bribe the clinic employee who administered the test to show that he was not Flores' father.
Now, Don Francisco tells La Tercera, in statements obtained by Notimex, that he will never forget the damage the scandal wrought not only on him, but also his family.
"I was sued for something absolutely nonexistent. Yet I paid a price. The tension and troubles my family and I endured for six months can't be recuperated. The truth is important. The relief is important, but it is difficult to recover from that," Don Francisco said.
Add to that the fact that Flores' motive for the false claim and lawsuit remain unknown.
"The truth is that I didn't understand why he was doing this. I didn't understand what his interest was or what his intentions were. One thinks about a lot of things: notoriety, money undoubtedly. But if you follow the story from day one, there's undue pressure. He was applying pressure on me."
Don Francisco, whose birth name is Mario Kreutzberger, said "I never lost my fans. On the contrary, they lifted me and let me know that they respected me, and that they were with me. And they embraced me on the street."
Still, however you want to look at it, "I felt very weak and unprotected. But these situations stack up as life experiences and serve to maintain equilibrium," Don Francisco said.
"They [his detractors] threw rocks at me for six months. Some hit me in the face, while others I dodged without a shield," he said. "It was a very rough and difficult situation for me ... painful, because I had recently turned 70 and gathered with my entire family."
Regarding the impact on his family, particularly his wife, Teresa, the television host told La Tercera, "I was very embarrassed by the pain my wife suffered, as well as my daughter (Vivi), who is a pro in these matters and couldn't speak to the media for six months. And that this would affect my grandchildren, with taunts in school, in the universities ..."
Toward the end of the interview, Don Francisco said he would like to share this experience. "I want to write a book, which I hope to finish next year. I want to share my experiences in television over the last 50 years as producer, journalist, entertainer ... a man of social means."
Source Rafael Abreu
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