Comedian Guillaume Meurice joins Radio Nova after being fired by France Inter

Dismissed in June with a bang by France Inter, the comedian Guillaume Meurice was recruited by Radio Nova to host a new Sunday show, for which he has been promised greater room for maneuver.

“True to its free spirit, its impertinence and its independence, Radio Nova, which has always given the microphone to comedians, welcomes this season Guillaume Meurice, Juliette Arnaud, Aymeric Lompret [deux anciens de France Inter partis volontairement] and Pierre-Emmanuel Barré » which is making its return to radio, according to a press release from Radio Nova.

Every Sunday from September 8, Guillaume Meurice and his columnists will host “La Dernière” live and in public from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., for a « analyse » news, in the same time slot and with the same concept as the former show in which the comedian participated on the public service, “Le Grand Dimanche soir”, which was not renewed. Its conductor Charline Vanhoenacker returned to the France Inter morning show for a daily slot.

Following his dismissal from Radio France, the comedian claims to Parisian having received a message from Matthieu Pigasse, shareholder of Radio Nova, also a member of the group’s supervisory board The Worldtelling him: “You are welcome: you do what you want, with whom you want, when you want.” About his former employer, the comedian adds: “I have no revenge or vengeance to take. There is a legal procedure at the industrial tribunal, that’s all.” This forced departure caused significant internal unease.

“Imagine each show as if it were the last”

The president of the public group, Sibyle Veil, had however affirmed that “neither freedom of expression nor humour have ever been threatened at Radio France”. She accused the troublemaker of “repeated disloyalty” after he reiterated at the end of April his controversial remarks about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, made for the first time at the end of October.

He had compared it to a “kind of nazi but without foreskin”which had triggered accusations of anti-Semitism and a complaint, which was ultimately dismissed. It had also earned Radio France a warning from Arcom, the audiovisual regulator.

In a “letter to France Inter” published on X, Mr. Meurice had judged that his dismissal was a “ideological victory” pour “the extreme right”shortly before the early legislative elections where the RN initially presented itself in a position of strength. “As we understood that freedom of expression was above all a nice concept, we said to ourselves that it was better to imagine each show as if it were the last”explains the comedian about the title of his new show.