Ten passages from the revealing biography of Maxime Meiland | show

“My bad luck was that I wasn’t prepared for how outrageously men can treat women in that area. She had never met a true straight man at home, so she was naive around men. So I could almost wait until I ran into the wrong one, because I had to spend little in that period anyway or I was destitute. Also because I was looking for love for the bullshit at home. Via MSN I got in touch with a boy from Sassenheim who wasn’t at my school, Max. That was a very nice contact and at one point he asked me if he wanted to send him a nude photo and a nude video. Now you’d put it out of your head, but no one had ever heard of sexting, so to speak. So what do I do with my stupid head to flatter that boy? I’ll send you a nude video. He was looking for confirmation anyway. (…) And that bastard started to blackmail me with it. (…) He was completely in a panic! What was he supposed to do? You don’t go to your mother to open your heart or ask her for advice, so you try to figure it out yourself. My solution was: I’m just going to do what the boy asks me to do”.

“The problem really started with that video. Things were going very badly at school. I blew my head to death over the weekend. I was drinking a lot. During the week I was on MSN until the middle of the night. I myself became a nuisance. Because if you are being seriously harassed, there comes a time when you take action. That’s pure survival instinct.”

“Dad’s departure may also have been one of the causes of my misery. I don’t blame him on that front, the only thing I blame him for is that he blew up mom. She came back and then everything was fine again, but of course something is broken. Let me put it this way: I also finally welcomed him with open arms when he returned. Not at first, because I thought: beautiful and easy what you do. He leaves again, abandons us again, he has seen him in Amsterdam, he comes back to us as if nothing had happened. That made me very angry. I said, “What am I supposed to do with you? I don’t feel like you anymore!” Was he totally upset about that? And then he said something he’s never said before: “But Maxime, I love you.” Then it hits you. But there’s always an idea in the back of our minds that that it could happen again. That it can just go away again. That fear weakens the more it hides behind the geraniums, but the feeling doesn’t completely go away. Maybe never.”

“Which I also really like: If you’ve been drinking and you’re going to harass men who could be your son age-wise. Of course they like it, because it’s Martien Meiland and they all think it’s funny. But then my dad starts flirting with those guys. So I just want to go! I think that’s so bad, so embarrassing. But don’t listen then, uh, move on. So my toes are crooked in my shoes in shame. The cause of this, of course, is alcohol. The weak point of the Meiland family. We have regular conversations with him about this. He drinks a lot.

“When my eyes fell on a bush on the side of a ditch, I noticed that the guy who had just left the prison was following me. He pushed me further behind that bush, lay on his back, grabbed me by the waist and started kissing me. All he could feel was horror and fear. He took off my outerwear and opened my bra. At the time she had pads in my bra because she was pretty insecure about my cup size. I remember feeling a sense of shame when the pads fell out of my bra. Bizarre of course! She laid me down on the grass and raped me. Her saliva dripped down my cheek. I remember well when I looked to the side and saw the sheep walking in the meadow. I will never forget that image in my entire life.”

“It all started very innocently. In fact, I did nothing at all in those videos and made a lot of money. But it all went on and on. I started it because I was curious about it. And at that moment I had no self-esteem for what had happened to me. And I did it for three years, which is a long time for me. You know somewhere that’s wrong, but you just do it. (…) And there is always a market, because you always stay with men who want to watch webcams. So I decided: that’s what I’m going to do, I create a company! (…) Divina Vive was called. Divine means heavenly. My mother must have made up that name, she’s good with names. Yeah, she just thought her with me. I would rather have her daughter behind her camera than in front of her. My parents thought: you yourself work behind the webcam, see how much offer there is and how much money you can earn. “Girl, if you see a future in that, go for it!”

“I already knew the name ‘Claire’ from the day I decided I wanted to keep her. I loved the Gooische Vrouwen series. There was a Claire to it and I always thought that was a very pretty name. that alcoholic. Instant seal.”

“All my life I had hoped that one day I would meet someone and immediately say, ‘That’s him!’ So this was me. Leroy. His appearance, how he spoke, how he acted, the common ground, all together created that feeling. No moment was awkward, everything was fun. At one point that first night, he sat next to my mother and said, “Looks like I ended up in a warm bath.” Then it got very late. The next morning they just had to get to work recording that leader. He was outside with the drone. My father and I were in the kitchen. We looked out the window and saw him and Claire, who was crazy about airplanes at the time, standing next to each other. She was explaining everything to him. That was such a beautiful image. And then I told my dad, “He’s so cute. This is him!” And my father: “Yes. Yes. Yes! I saw him yesterday!”

“However, at the end of 2020, after three years of radio silence, he suddenly contacted me because he wanted to see her. I was surprised by typhus! Hi Maxime, I hope all is well with you and Claire. As you know, I’ve consciously distanced myself from Claire in recent years, but of course I’ve seen her in photos of her before. She looks very pretty and sweet. As you may have heard, I’m more open to meeting Claire now. As long as he agrees with you too, of course, and preferably off the press. I would love to know how you feel about this. Regards, Jap.” And then first I think: yeah, maybe I should be open to that in Claire’s interest. Leroy can get completely stressed with that message. He’s in a total panic, afraid that Jaap will come and take Claire from us. Now of course I am married and have built my own family with Leroy, Claire and Vivé. Now I’ve gotten to the point where I think: no, we’re not going to do that.”

“We were able to buy it for just under 2.2 million euros. That is, of course, a ridiculous amount for someone my age. That’s why I never thought it would work. A lot of money! (…) I dove into Excel. What are our expenses? What can I save on? Well, those expenses are falling fast. For example, we had Polish women who came to clean every two weeks. That was already 500 euros a month. (…) And so there were other things. Then suddenly I came out very well and I thought: it is possible. (…) In order to live here, our life had to change. So I just decide: That big new Jeep I bought last year is leaving and I’m taking a used Fiat 500 with me. Not that Leroy’s Audi, no. That would be sad for that boy.”

These passages are from Maxime, Battered, Derailed, and Now Happy…, written by Jan Dijkgraaf (osjato editorial) and available now.