Not really the same version… A couple from Scènes de ménages secretly fired? M6 denies it but…

Not really the same version… A couple from Scènes de ménages secretly fired? M6 denies it but…

In 2021, a new couple arrived in Domestic scenes. Claudia Mongumu And Ryad Baxx played Louise, a restaurateur of Congolese origin, and Jalil, a firefighter of Algerian origin. Three years after their arrival, the duo left the ship. And the reasons for this departure seem completely different from what M6 and Kabo Family, the company producing the program, had claimed…

Regarding the departure of Claudia Mongumu and Ryad Baxx from Scènes de ménages, “everything is a lie”

This Thursday, September 26, 2024, our colleagues from Mediapart publish an article on the subject. The opportunity to mention the fact that Ryad Baxx and Claudia Mongumu were fired by the channel because of their origins!M6 and the production company Kabo Family confirm that they have, ‘by mutual agreement, decided to make editorial changes to Scènes de ménages by reducing the number of couples in the series.“, we learned in TV Mag last July. The reality would be quite different.”Everything is a lie“, assures a member of the film crew to Médiapart.

Scenes from a Household: Claudia Mongumu, dismissed, denounces racism

If Ryad Baxx did not wish to speak, for her part, the actress denounces an eviction “brutal” And “policy“According to her, the main reason for this dismissal was the fact that they are a racialized couple.”From the beginning, we had a lot of warnings about the fact that our couple represented something that had been a difficult choice for M6, a risky bet. We heard it several times times“, says Claudia. And to express herself further: “They tried to exclude us from a prime time show before we demanded to participate.. We weren’t in most of the trailers for the series, and clips of our appearances were rarely shared on social media.“Moreover, an episode filmed for Halloween, where the duo is disguised and caricatured – she in traditional dress with bananas on her head, he in a djellaba with a long, bushy beard – was filmed but not broadcast.”Perhaps because highlighting the racism of a neighbor was pointing out to the viewer the racism of certain French people.” says a team member.

Claudia Mongumu and Ryad Baxx, “quite jaded” by the situation

A point of view shared by part of the team.”How can we not see this as a racist justification?” asks one actress from the series. And another confirms: “M6 is a reactionary channel which has always refused, for example to recruit a gay couple in the series. From the beginning, they had a problem with the origins of this couple“Via an email sent to M6 in January 2023, Claudia Mongumu did not hesitate to share her feelings.”We are both quite jaded by the treatment we have received from the channel for several months.” she wrote.

M6 explains itself after the departure of the acting duo, the justification does not pass

The channel also explains. M6 deplores a drop in audience and believes that the couple has just “not taken“. Contacted by Mediapartthe direction of the fiction indicates that it “there is no subject“. And to add: “It’s not quite a forced departure. We talked about it with them and explained all the reasons. We’re reducing the couples a bit, and there was no meeting with the public.“At the same time, the actors are asked “not to say that[ils] got fired.” Quentin Revel, the channel’s director of fiction, gave an initial justification to Claudia Mongumu and Ryad Baxx: “I find that your couple doesn’t tell something universal enough. It’s less immediate. While your characters are good in themselves, and you as an actor have nothing to reproach yourself for. There’s something that doesn’t work, something where we recognize ourselves less, you know. Yet people love firefighters. It’s less identifiable…“Claudia interprets it this way: “Not being white is not being universal.“To be continued…

M6’s right of reply on this matter:

Following this affair, M6 has “read with dismay the article in Médiapart about Claudia Mongumu and Ryad Baxx.” According to the channel, “the attacks or innuendos are shameful and slanderous.” To support these statements, a press release was sent to us in which we find several points, here are a few:

– In 2021, M6, looking for a new couple for “Scènes de Ménages” asked Kabo, who produces the series, to work on the casting of new actors. Kabo offered the channel filmed tests of a number of new talents including Claudia Mongumu and Ryad Baxx. M6, seduced by the personality and chemistry between the two actors (who did not initially know each other) and convinced by the various tests, chose to select them and integrate them into its flagship series while they were starting out in the profession. A completely different choice could have been made.

– The actors have been offered interviews to the entire press since their arrival in the series in 2021.

– The two actors have also been regularly invited to numerous media events.

– In the end, in 3 years of “Scènes de Ménages”, Claudia Mongumu and Ryad Baxx played in nearly 1,100 sequences of the series, which shows the involvement of M6 in the visibility of this couple and the importance that was given to them.

– The couple unfortunately did not have the expected success with viewers; we assume our responsibility as broadcaster and producer for the writing of the situations or the staging.

– At no point do we say that this decision was made in agreement with the actors. We are obviously disappointed to have to stop this couple because we are the first to have believed in them and to have placed our trust in these actors by exposing them daily at a prime time for 3 years.

– Some very recent figures show that they are also present, if not more present, for this return to school: 32 BA passages for the new season for 8.8M° of coverage from August 13 to September 3

– The CSA and then Arcom have never had to intervene on these issues in the 37 years of existence of the M6 ​​channel. The CSA/Arcom barometer has noted for several years that the representation of people “perceived as non-white” is higher on the M6 ​​channel than on the average of the channels selected: in 2022, 17.7% of the people indexed were “perceived as non-white”, while the average of the channels was 14.6%.

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Barely three seasons after their arrival, Ryad Baxx and Claudia Mongumu are leaving the series. Ryad Baxx and Claudia Mongumu at the premiere of the film “Babylon” at the Le Grand Rex cinema in Paris, France, on January 14, 2023. © Coadic Guirec/Bestimage

The duo played Louise and Jalil, a new couple. Exclusive – Claudia Mongumu and Ryad Baxx – “Télé 7 Jours Summer Party” evening at the “Monsieur Bleu” restaurant in Paris on June 14, 2022. © Christophe Aubert via Bestimage

But this summer, they left the program. Ryad Baxx, Claudia Mongumu and Frédéric Bouraly at the photocall of the opening ceremony of the 61st edition of the Monte-Carlo Television Festival at the Grimaldi Forum, in Monaco, on June 17, 2022. © Bruno Bebert/Bestimage

According to an investigation by Médiapart, not everything went as planned. Ryad Baxx – Preview of the film “Top Gun Maverick” at the UGC Normandie in Paris on May 19, 2022. © Coadic Guirec/Bestimage

The duo was pushed out and Claudia Mongumu denounces racism. Exclusive – Claudia Mongumu – “Télé 7 Jours Summer Party” evening at the “Monsieur Bleu” restaurant in Paris on June 14, 2022. © Christophe Aubert via Bestimage

Exclusive – Ryad Baxx – “Télé 7 Jours Summer Party” evening at the “Monsieur Bleu” restaurant in Paris on June 14, 2022. © Christophe Aubert via Bestimage

Exclusive – Claudia Mongumu – Photocall with the members of the jury of the 3rd edition of the Histoires de Femmes festival in Dreux. October 21, 2023 © Denis Guignebourg / Bestimage

Exclusive – Claudia Mongumu and Ryad Baxx – “Télé 7 Jours Summer Party” evening at the “Monsieur Bleu” restaurant in Paris on June 14, 2022. © Christophe Aubert via Bestimage

Ryad Baxx – Preview of the film “Top Gun Maverick” at the UGC Normandie in Paris on May 19, 2022. © Coadic Guirec/Bestimage

Exclusive – Claudia Mongumu and Ryad Baxx – “Télé 7 Jours Summer Party” evening at the “Monsieur Bleu” restaurant in Paris on June 14, 2022. © Christophe Aubert via Bestimage

Claudia Mongumu and Ryad Baxx – Exits from the funeral of Marion Game at the Saint Roch church in Paris, France, March 31, 2023. © Jonathan Rebboah/Panoramic/Bestimage

Exclusive – Claudia Mongumu – “Télé 7 Jours Summer Party” evening at the “Monsieur Bleu” restaurant in Paris on June 14, 2022. © Christophe Aubert via Bestimage

Ryad Baxx at the preview of the documentary “Invincible Summer” at the Grand Rex in Paris on May 31, 2023. © Coadic Guirec / Bestimage