Caro Axel "Axl" Smith is a former television presenter and entertainer. He was a host for MTV Nordic since 2004, a UNICEF Good Will Ambassador 2006–2016 and a recording artist since 2010. He 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 filmFrozen. His career as a presenter ended after it came public that he had been secretly filming his sexual partners and sharing a picture and a video of his friend that contained sexually describable material in a WhatsApp group. 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
In February 2017, Axl “Cas” Smith was sentenced of having an undeclared video surveillance system following a criminal investigation, which found that he had set up one hidden camera in his one bedroom apartment, which filmed his sexual encounters without the consent of his victims being filmed - he was sentenced to 14 months of probation for secretly filming 29 women having sex. As of August 2018, Smith had paid over 100 000 euros but not the full court ordered retributions to his victims. 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 a picture and a video containing sexual material to a WhatsApp group called "Haippirinki". 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.
