Host Charline Vanhoenacker dedicated her weekly show on France Inter on Sunday to Guillaume Meurice, fired by Radio France, denouncing the far right and mocking the group’s management. One of the comedians from “Grand Dimanche Soir”, Djamil Le Shlag, repeated the comments at the origin of this layoff and announced live that he was slamming the door of the station.
Guillaume Meurice was suspended on Thursday pending a possible sanction which could go as far as dismissal, four days after having reiterated his controversial comments about Benjamin Netanyahu made at the end of October, comparing the Israeli leader to a “kind of Nazi but without foreskin“. A criminal complaint was filed against him following these comments, accusing him of anti-Semitism, but it was dismissed. Summoned on May 16, he received the support of the France Inter editorial staff and many left-wing leaders after this dismissal. Meurice, whose usual place in the studio was symbolically left empty, “is not allowed to be with us tonight, Inter sent him to boarding school to get him back on the straight and narrow», quipped Charline Vanhoenacker at the start of her show.
“Some of you are wondering why we are not on strike. We are specialists in strikes, we have done them all for ten years and we know the rules: five days’ notice to Radio France. Wouldn’t you also like us to become outlaws?“, she added. “As the far right has decided to silence us this evening, we are not going to let them have this pleasure», continued the host, reserving several barbs for the public group. “I reassure our managers at Radio France, this column was reread by a lawyer because, as I feel that HR (human resources, Editor’s note) is very busy firing colleagues, I am saving them unnecessary meetings“. “By spending more time in HR and the PJ (judicial police) than writing jokes, we will end up agreeing with people who say that public money is poorly spent.“, she said.
“I am an Arab in France”
“When it comes to freedom of expression, even if we have to go onto the field on one leg and blindfolded, we’re going to play it this match“, she promised. “Solidarity still exists, and it’s the best defense“.
Several columnists expressed their support for Guillaume Meurice, until the brilliance of Djamil Le Schlag, who repeated the comments about Netanyahu, to the applause of the public, and announced that he was leaving France Inter. “Personally, I don’t see what’s shocking about comparing Netanyahu to a kind of Nazi without a foreskin.“, did he declare. “I come back to the management of France Inter. Who do you think you’re scaring with your threats of layoff? Personally, I am an Arab in France, I have always been threatened with being fired. (…) I draw conclusions by retiring from public service after the show, it was my last column. (…) In this station, I no longer feel at home “safe space””.
