Full Name Caro Axel Smith Website www.axlsmith.com Genre Hip-hop/rap | Nationality Finnish Record label WAXL | |
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Occupation Entertainer, talk show host, recording artist Albums People Come First, 80's Babies Similar Kasmir, Osmo Ikonen, Heikki Paasonen, Iina Kuustonen, Saara Aalto | ||
Caro Axel ”Axl” Smith (born 10 March 1984) is a former Finnish presenter and entertainer whose career as a presenter ended after it came public that he had been secretly filming his sexual partners and sharing the material in a WhatsApp group. He's been a host for MTV Nordic since 2004, a UNICEF Good Will Ambassador 2006–2016 and a recording artist since 2010. He's has hosted So You Think You Can Dance Finland in 2010, The Voice of Finland 2011–2016 and The Voice Kids Finland 2012–2014. He was also the Finnish voice of Kristoff in the animated film Frozen.
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Smith was born to an Iranian father and a Finnish mother. His surname comes from his American stepfather, whom his mother married when Smith was young. His maternal grandparents are Swedish.
Controversy
On 1 March 2016, Smith was taken by police for questioning regarding allegations on having an undeclared video surveillance system in his one bedroom apartment. It was later revealed that the police are suspecting Smith of filming dozens of women without their consent during sexual intercourse. Due to the media attention, Smith resigned from The Voice of Finland and from his duties as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. On 2 February 2017 he received a suspended sentence of 1 year and 2 months and was ordered to pay 150 000 euros compensation to his victims. Smith had posted the video material to a WhatsApp group called "Haippirinki" ("Hype ring"). Other members in the group were Finnish singer Thomas Kirjonen aka Kasmir and producer Henri Salonen aka Hank Solo. Before the trial Smith had sent defiant messages to Kasmir stating that if the filming would ever go to the court "the trial would be made public" and "the bitches would have to come there too and all the material would be revealed". During the trial Smith was trying to defend himself by using a story about a friend called "Peter" who allegedly had been framed for rape that destroyed his life. According to Smith this was the reason for his home video surveillance but it came clear during the trial that "Peter" was a fictitious character.
Songs
Get Louder2012
We Live OnPeople Come First · 2010
We Have Come So FarPeople Come First · 2010