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🇱🇹 Lithuania /Culture & Society

Slap on TV Show Sparks Outcry, and Host Rūta Mikelkevičiūtė Responds

From Delfi · () Lithuanian

Translated from Lithuanian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Outcome reported
  • Rūta Banionytė slapped Paulius Mikolaitis, known as Paul de Miko, during an LNK television program, and a recording of the incident quickly spread online.
  • Host Rūta Mikelkevičiūtė said she did not see the slap during filming and learned about it afterward.
  • Banionytė said the incident formed part of a show about the blurred line between truth and deception in entertainment, while online reactions ranged from praise to criticism of televised violence.

A slap in an LNK studio has turned into one of the week’s most widely discussed television moments in Lithuania. Rūta Banionytė, founder of “Šokoladas sielai,” struck Paulius Mikolaitis, known as Paul de Miko, during the program “Už ar prieš?” A recording spread rapidly on social media, prompting an intense reaction.

Host Rūta Mikelkevičiūtė later commented on the incident through LNK.lt. She joked that her phone had been overwhelmed by messages since morning, saying that this showed the program had succeeded in generating attention.

We filmed a program about whether it is worth deceiving people for a good show. We discussed how the entertainment world works and how scandals are created. The widely discussed breakup of Oksana Pikul and Dominykas Dirksčys only shows how unclear the boundary is.

· Rūta MikelkevičiūtėThe television host explained the program’s theme and the role of scandal in entertainment.

“ We filmed a program about whether it is worth deceiving people for a good show. We discussed how the entertainment world works and how scandals are created. The widely discussed breakup of Oksana Pikul and Dominykas Dirksčys only shows how unclear the boundary is,” Mikelkevičiūtė said.

The image looks strange. I ask what happened and give Rūta a high five. In fact, I found out about the slap only afterward.

· Rūta MikelkevičiūtėShe said she did not see the incident during filming.

She also stressed that she had not witnessed the slap while filming. She had been greeting participants on the other side of the studio and discovered what happened only afterward. “The image looks strange. I ask what happened and give Rūta a high five. In fact, I found out about the slap only afterward,” she said.

Banionytė described the incident as part of the program’s performance. “Our position is that the program was about how, in show business, you do not know what is true and what is false. We were filming the program yesterday, and it was simply part of our show,” she said. Some commenters celebrated the act, while others argued that violence should not be treated as entertainment, especially on television.

Our position is that the program was about how, in show business, you do not know what is true and what is false. We were filming the program yesterday, and it was simply part of our show.

· Rūta BanionytėBanionytė characterized the slap as part of the television performance.
About this summary

Originally published by Delfi in Lithuanian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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