relotius' superiors initially supported him after he said the allegations made against him were false. they even suspected that moreno was slandering him. however, in the face of mounting evidence of relotius' deceit, özlem gezer, the deputy head of the magazine's "gesellschaft" (society) section and relotius' immediate supervisor, confronted relotius and told him she no longer believed him. the following day, relotius confessed, and "der spiegel" forced his resignation, calling him "neither a reporter nor a journalist". relotius told his former colleagues that he was sick and needed to get help. "der spiegel" left his articles accessible for the time being, with a notice referring to the magazine's ongoing investigation into the fraud. in the wake of the scandal, relotius returned four awards he received from "deutscher reporterpreis", and cnn revoked his 2014 journalist of the year award. the awarded article on an alzheimer patient in a california prison was marked by the "reportagen" magazine as under investigation. the issue of "der spiegel" published on 21 december covered the relotius case over 23 pages with a plain orange cover.