Tiago Leifert says he was a victim of cowardice and never had to step on anyone

Former BBB presenter Tiago Leifert, 41, shared this Monday (27) a video on Instagram saying that he was a victim of “cowardice” and that despite being successful in the programs he worked for Globo, he never needed to “decrease anyone to feel superior” nor “talk about anyone’s work”. The video is the journalist’s response to the attacks he suffered after an argument with actor Ícaro Silva, 34, over criticism of the reality show.

“I was attacked because of my religion, because of my family and I didn’t do it at all. I didn’t attack anyone’s family, I didn’t attack anyone’s nature, I didn’t attack anyone’s trajectory, I didn’t do that in no time,” Leifert said.

The presenter stated that in the last paragraph of a letter written to him, without mentioning the name of Ícaro Silva, “they gloat” and “ironize” a problem he is experiencing and that he is not prepared to talk about. In the letter, written by Silva, he says: “Overall, I know you are dealing with personal problems. I really wish you much light in your life and I think it would be wise to focus there on ‘interrupting your peace,'” wrote the actor.

Leifert claimed that this excerpt of the letter moved him in a way that he thought was not possible after so many years of working in communication. Therefore, he preferred to calm down to respond. “I stopped seeing everything and was very upset about that last part. So I’ll ignore for now the attacks on my father, my family and my religion as well.”

The presenter lamented that his speech was used to hurt people and a cause that has nothing to do with the matter. “I am very sorry, I was very sad that what I did for defending my colleagues and my work was used to hurt other people, because that was never my intention.” He went on to say that he regrets if the person was offended: “This is not an apology.”

He said he was wrong to say that Big Brother Brasil probably helped to pay the actor’s salary. “I made a mistake, it’s not likely, we helped pay your salary, Boninho’s, mine, Luciano Hulk’s, Mion’s, everyone else’s.”

The presenter said he can’t see where the offense lies in a simple statement that everyone’s work helps pay the salary. “If you take what I said and turn it into something else, I won’t follow you, I won’t go there, that’s not what I said.”

Leifert highlighted that at the beginning of the pandemic, in 2020, at Globo only two teams were working: journalism and Big Brother Brasil. According to him, the BBB was very important in 2020 and 2021.

Leifert also said that during the pandemic he was afraid of being infected because his wife, journalist Daiana Garbin, was pregnant. According to him, colleagues in the program’s production lost relatives and friends to Covid, went away for two or three days in mourning and returned to work during this period. “When I see a colleague, friendly fire, say that our work is crap and mediocre, especially in this context, it’s obvious that I got a gun, it’s obvious that I reacted.”