Nazeni Hovhannisyan Discusses Reasons for Leaving Public Television: I Am on the Black List

Public Television has a black list of artists, and specific individuals are banned from entering Public Television, actress and presenter Nazeni Hovhannisyan said in an interview with "Hraparak."

"My story started a long time ago. But the question here is not so much about my departure, as changing jobs is completely normal; the issue is that I have been on H1's black list for the last ten years. Not everyone leaves, though. Public Television has a black list of artists who are banned from entering: nothing is said about them, and they are not introduced. That is their unwritten law. I have been clearly on H1's black list since 2020. This happened after the war. But all this is not about Public Television; in general, all those who have a voice, weight, and can somehow shape public opinion create discomfort for Public Television.

As for my work at H1 ending, I left there in 2012. The reason was that we no longer had anything to do with each other, and I decided to leave; there was no special reason. I feel sorry for all my colleagues who, while working at Public Television, have limited rights to speak and I welcome all my colleagues who do not stay there in the name of their freedom of speech and prefer to be free, to speak freely. In any case, different people leave for different reasons," she said.

It is noteworthy that recently model and presenter Lusine Tovmasyan left Public Television, stating: "... The reason was a state-funded invitation of one of the world’s most famous classical musicians, Lang Lang, along with my interview conducted with Sergey Smbatyan...". Actor and presenter Khoren Levonyan also announced that he was removed from Public Television for refusing to mock folk musicians.