German publisher apologises for fake Schumacher interview: 'Distasteful'

The publisher of German magazine Die Aktuelle has apologised to the Schumacher family for the recently published fake interview. It admits that the article "should never have been published" and says the editor-in-chief has been fired.

The cover of the magazine referred to "the first interview" with Michael Schumacher since his skiing accident in 2013. However, it turned out to be not a real interview, but an interview with an AI bot. Schumacher's family announced it was considering legal action after the article was published.

Publisher Funke apologised to the Schumacher family for the article. "This distasteful and misleading article should never have been published. It in no way meets the journalistic standards we - and our readers - expect from a publishing house like Funke," reads the statement by Funke magazine managing director Bianca Pohlmann.

Anne Hoffmann, who had been editor-in-chief of Die Aktuelle since 2009, will be relieved of her position with immediate effect. Whether this will make the Schumacher family decide not to take legal action is not yet known.