The trial against Cyril Hanouna, tried for insults against the deputy of La France insoumise (LFI) Louis Boyard, opens this Tuesday at the Paris judicial court, marking a step in this media affair. The facts date back to November 2022, when during the show Don’t touch my post (TPMP) on C8, the presenter insulted the politician several times. We take stock of the matter.
“Buffoon”, “idiot”, “shame”…
The cacophonous scene of November 10, 2022 lasted several minutes on set. Louis Boyard was invited that day as part of a sequence devoted to the fate of the migrant boat Ocean Viking. During the show, the deputy for Val-de-Marne and former columnist for TPMPcited Vincent Bolloré, controversial billionaire and owner of the channel, as being one of the five richest people in France who are “impoverishing Africa” and having notably “participated in deforestation”.
Words that did not please the star presenter. “You know you’re in the Canal group here? », Cyril Hanouna then reminded him. During the live sequence, the latter then continued the insults, calling Louis Boyard a “shit”, “buffoon”, “shame” or even an “asshole” and ordering him to “shut his mouth”. The chosen one ended up leaving the stage, booed by the audience of TPMP.
Two respective complaints
This clash immediately sparked reactions in the media and on social networks, where many viewers and political figures expressed their indignation at the tone used by Hanouna. The President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, for example, considered the television sequence “degrading”. For her part, Mathilde Panot, on behalf of the LFI group, announced that she was seizing Arcom.
A few days after the altercation, Louis Boyard filed a complaint against the host for “public insult”. He also called for the National Assembly to open a commission of inquiry into the Bolloré empire.
“The only thing I regret is having insulted him,” Cyril Hanouna wrote immediately on X (ex-Twitter) before announcing a few days later that he was going to file a complaint against the LFI deputy for defamation. During the sequence, Louis Boyard also accused him of “increasing racism”. It is the TV host who will have to answer for his actions this Tuesday before the Paris judicial court. He is tried before the 17e chamber, a correctional chamber specializing in press matters and risks a fine of up to 12,000 euros.
A record fine of 3.5 million
The case led to a record fine for C8, sentenced by Arcom (formerly CSA) in February 2023 to 3.5 million euros.
“Arcom in fact considered that these remarks infringed the rights of the guest, respect for his honor and his reputation” and that “this sequence reflected a lack of awareness by the publisher of its obligation to control its antenna,” the media regulator said in a statement.
A sanction contested by the C8 channel, denouncing in particular an “error of assessment”. In May, the public rapporteur of the Council of State recommended maintaining the fine that had been imposed. There is “little doubt that the kind qualifiers addressed” live by the TPMP presenter to the elected official in November “constitute insults”, the rapporteur justified.
In March, the presenter of TPMP had pulled out the betrayal card before the National Assembly’s commission of inquiry into the allocation of TNT frequencies. “He arrived and said to himself, I’m going to do a happening and I’m going to try to shake Cyril off his hinges, which he succeeded in fact. I regret my comments, but when I saw Louis Boyard, I did not see a deputy, I saw a friend, who betrayed me, live,” commented the TPMP presenter.
