Don Xhoni reacts after the scandal over the video shoot at the Makedonium: “We did not want to offend anyone”

Kosovo rapper Don Xhoni has reacted after the many reactions provoked by the filming of the video for his new song “Seksi mama” inside the “Ilinden” memorial in Krushevo, known as the Makedonium. In a post on social media, Don Xhoni said that neither he nor his team had any intention of provoking, offending or diminishing the value of the place and its symbolism, as Puls24 reports.

“The location was only part of the script and I chose it for production reasons. There were no offensive messages, no tendency to provoke or any other aim,” the rapper declared, according to Puls24’s reporting. He stressed that the aim was purely artistic and production-related and that there was no intention to offend any national symbol.

The fact that the Makedonium — where the tomb of Nikola Karev is also located — was rented out for the filming of a video for a song titled “Seksi mama”, and that the directorate of the Krushevo History Museum considered “500 euros for 5-6 hours” an appropriate price, caused an avalanche of public reactions, after which the authorities were forced to respond.

Minister of Culture Sedat Sulejmani, at a press conference on another topic, said the case was “truly sensitive” and that “we will see with the legal services how we can act further, or with some legal change, because at the moment the legal right to rent it out exists, but directors must be careful when they rent out facilities — they must know what programmes will be held and with what content”.

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski apologised to the public on behalf of those responsible and announced he would seek the dismissal of the director of the Krushevo History Museum and of the members of the institution’s management board; in the end the director, Miha Odžaklieski, submitted his irrevocable resignation, calling the decision “a personal, moral and ethical act and an expression of responsibility towards the institution and the public”.