Ivo Widlak (born July 5, 1978, in Knurów, Poland) is an international press, radio and TV journalist.[1][2] He started as a very young reporter at weekly newspaper in his hometown titled "Przegląd Lokalny". Then he started hosting TV show for children and teenagers called "Kleks" on TVP Katowice. The same year, in 1995, wrote scripts and hosted "5-10-15", another show for children and teenagers on TVP1 on Telewizja Polska. Later he co-developed and co-hosted "Twój Problem Nasza Głowa" on Telewizja Wisła later TVN (Poland). In 1998 he moved to Warsaw to co-host "Rower Błażeja" on TVP1 on Telewizja Polska. During his career he worked for Radio Puls in Gliwice and Radio ZET in Warsaw. In 2001 he moved permanently to Chicago, and in 2004 he created and hosted own talk show, titled "Ivo na zywo", and produced and hosted daily news program on TVPChicago broadcast on Channel 34 WJYS. He also has been an editor-in-chief of several popular internet news websites in Polish. He rose to prominence as an investigative journalist in the United States, for uncovering corruption and irregularities that took place with the renovation of the building of the Polish Consulate General, Chicago titled "Consulgate"[3] (the Supreme Chamber of Control of the Republic of Poland informed by Widlak later confirmed that irregularities occurred at all stages of implementation of the renovation, and the final cost was in the amount of $8.2 million).[4][5] President of the Polish Cultural Institute in Chicago.[6]

Ivo Widlak
Born(1978-07-05)July 5, 1978
DiedMay 28, 2020(2020-05-28) (aged 41)
Occupation(s)Journalist, Talk show host, Television presenter
Years active1990–present
Websitewww.ivowidlak.com

Deportation controversy edit

On December 14, 2012, pinknews.co.uk reported that Ivo Widlak is facing the risk of deportation from the United States due to his bisexuality. Widlak has been married for ten years to a woman, Lale. However, someone in the local Polish community, later revealed it was attorney Christopher Kurczaba,[7] reportedly went to authorities and claimed that Ivo and Lale were in a sham marriage, and that Ivo was in fact homosexual.

The Widlaks are not a same-sex couple, so they do not fall under the protection of a recent executive order that President Obama signed in September 2012. That order stated that foreigners in a same-sex relationship with an American citizen have the same anti-deportation protections as foreigners married to an American citizen.[8][9]

References edit

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-01-31. Retrieved 2013-05-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "National 'Gas-Out' Day Could be a Hoax". 14 April 2011.
  3. ^ "Consulgate | Ivo Widlakivo Widlak". Archived from the original on 2013-10-14. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
  4. ^ "Dyplomacja inwestuje bez granic (tvp.info)". www.tvp.info. Archived from the original on 2014-12-10.
  5. ^ "Konsulgate za 8 milionów dolarów". 30 June 2010.
  6. ^ "After plane crash, Chicago Poles mourn with their homeland". 11 April 2010.
  7. ^ "Will a Bisexual Journalist Be Deported for Being Married to His Wife? | Faith Cheltenham". huffingtonpost.com. Archived from the original on 2013-11-10.
  8. ^ "Polish journalist says he risks being deported from USA for being bisexual and not gay". 14 December 2012.
  9. ^ "HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. And World News". HuffPost.

External links edit