Studio clash on ART TV

The confrontation took place on Wednesday evening, 7 October 2026, during the broadcast of Horis Chroma on ART TV, moderated by journalist Giorgos Vathiotis. Dimitris Konstantopoulos, a former member of parliament and the current secretary of self-organization for PASOK, engaged in a heated debate with Anna Papadopoulou, the deputy spokesperson for the Greek Left Coalition (ELAS). The disagreement centered on Papadopoulou's recent decision to leave PASOK and align herself with the political movement headed by Alexis Tsipras. Konstantopoulos challenged her political consistency, telling the host that politicians who move between parties are despicable and asserting that Papadopoulou departed only after failing to secure election to PASOK's Central Committee. He further criticized Tsipras as a five-time electoral loser who serves as an exclusive sponsor for Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. In response, Papadopoulou observed that Konstantopoulos repeatedly attacked the opposition rather than addressing the policies of the governing New Democracy administration.

Off-air confrontation and intimidation claims

The dispute reportedly spilled beyond the televised broadcast into the commercial break when studio cameras stopped recording. Papadopoulou reported that Konstantopoulos engaged in an unprovoked and intimidating verbal attack, calling her trash and stepping toward her twice in an aggressive posture. She stated that she had to ask him twice whether he intended to physically strike her before the encounter was defused. New Democracy lawmaker Ktistakis, who was present in the studio as another panel guest, intervened to calm Papadopoulou as her hands shook from distress. Although Konstantopoulos approached her before the end of the show to apologize personally, Papadopoulou refused to accept his words.

She detailed the incident in a public statement the following day:

“I did not accept your apology because I think of all those women who heard an apology at night and the next day faced the same behavior.”

Political fallout and party reactions

Following the broadcast, Papadopoulou issued an open call to PASOK and party leader Nikos Androulakis demanding the immediate expulsion of Konstantopoulos. She argued that a progressive movement cannot tolerate intimidation or harbor abusive conduct against female colleagues. Konstantopoulos responded with a formal statement 20 hours after the broadcast, acknowledging that he argued in an excessively sharp tone on air and that this aggressive approach was an error. However, he argued that Papadopoulou was manufacturing a controversy to divert public attention from leadership mistakes inside ELAS, pointing specifically to controversies over an underwater cable off Kasos. Konstantopoulos insisted that he would not permit the incident to be exploited for political purposes to extract ELAS from its own strategic deadlocks.

Move to the courts and missing footage

Papadopoulou rejected Konstantopoulos's statement and announced that she would pursue legal action against him for verbal abuse and intimidation. She stated that his public response attempted to rewrite a threatening encounter into a routine political dispute while turning the perpetrator into a victim. To substantiate her legal case, Papadopoulou requested security camera footage recorded during the commercial break from ART TV, but host Giorgos Vathiotis informed her that no off-air video exists. In a subsequent public statement, she pointed viewers to the closing moments of the broadcast recording, asserting that off-air audio provided evidence of what transpired. She emphasized that she would not step back from taking the matter before the judiciary, reiterating that eyewitnesses, including lawmaker Ktistakis, were present throughout the altercation.