Eurovision Winner Facing Bill For Dad Who Rejected Her

Story ByMichael Leidig, Sub EditorJoseph GolderAgencyCentral European News

Eurovision Song Contest winner Lena Meyer-Landrut could find herself having to fork out to pay maintenance to her estranged dad after it was revealed he had debts of over 300,000 EUR.

A change in the law in Germany means that wealthier kids have to fork out for parents even if, as is the case with the German singer, her dad walked out on the family when she was two years old, and only resurfaced when Lena Meyer-Landrut was nominated as the German entry for the song contest in Oslo in 2010. The then 18 year-old eventually won the event with her song Satellite.

At the time, it was revealed that her father Ladislas Meyer-Landrut was also a musician and former pilot and the son of Andreas Meyer-Landrut, the Baltic German-born West German ambassador to the Soviet Union in Moscow, and he had not had any contact at all with his daughter for 16 years.

Picture Credit: CEN/@lenameyerlandrut

And now it has been revealed on the eve of her revealing details of her relationship with Mark Forster, 36, that there is a shadow over the good news with the revelation that bankruptcy proceedings have been filed against her unemployed father with 16 creditors demanding 369,424 EUR (313,000 GBP).

Local media report that with him currently receiving unemployment benefits, and in early retirement, there is unlikely to be any chance that he can repay the money. According to German media, this new law would mean that she could be made to pay for his upkeep.

However, a change in the law means that from January of this year, children also have an obligation to provide care for their parents should they get into difficulty and be unable to provide for themselves. In theory, any child earning more than a 100,000 EUR (84,800 GBP) annually could be liable to have to pay for the maintenance of a parent in financial difficulties.

In June 2017, her dad was the subject of a song she co-wrote called “If I Wasn’t Your Daughter” that included lyrics like: “you’re 20 years late and I’m still here, dreaming you calling me. Wait. It’s such a waste. Why are you holding back?”

And: “Whatever you did, you made me like this, I’m one of your greatest mistakes.”

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