The cancellation

On Monday evening, 12 October, Sarah Kuttner announced on Instagram that she is cancelling all of her upcoming readings for health reasons, with no replacement dates. The 47-year-old former Viva presenter had been reading from her novel Mama & Sam, and the reports name Hamburg, Dortmund, Potsdam and Düsseldorf among the cancelled venues. Dpa reports that the Potsdam reading was scheduled for 20 October and the Erlangen reading for 22 October, with further dates planned for November. Only six days earlier, on 6 October, she had said she did not want to cancel the reading from the same book at the Osterburg literature days on 7 October. Her announcement was posted with comments switched off, as with her earlier health posts.

“Dear all! Unfortunately I have to cancel all upcoming readings without replacement for health reasons. Please forgive me!”

From the screening to the biopsy

Kuttner first made the screening public in an Instagram video, although the reports differ on when she did so. Dpa places the video in late September, after which she had already cancelled a reading at the Göttingen literature autumn, while Berliner Zeitung dates her first post to early October. In the video she said that a visit to her gynaecologist had turned up a finding that needed urgent further tests, and she described the diagnosis with dark humour. Berliner Zeitung writes that what lies behind the finding remains unclear. She later reported that she had a biopsy and that five tissue samples were taken from her. Speaking after a mammography, she said she had a rough sense of what the finding was, and she added:

“Within what it is, though, I think it's quite okay.”

The biopsy result is still awaited according to the reports, and Kuttner has not said what the finding is.

Refunds and reactions

Buyers who bought tickets online will have the ticket price refunded automatically to their original payment method in the coming days. Those who bought tickets at an advance-sale outlet need to contact that outlet directly to get their money back. Focus reports that Kuttner had already cancelled some appearances at the end of August, before the more recent posts. She has disabled comments under her health posts, saying she does not want sympathy, shared experiences or good advice, and she has written that she can feel the relevant things herself. Berliner Zeitung quotes her as asking followers for no messages and saying that she is coping. Her podcast Das kleine Fernsehballett, which she runs with journalist Stefan Niggemeier, had a recording postponed.

What is not yet known

None of the five reports publishes a biopsy result or names the finding. No new reading dates have been announced, and the November dates are described only as planned. The reports also do not say when the biopsy result is expected.