“Insult against an elected representative of the Republic”: Cyril Hanouna did not deign to go to his trial for insulting Louis Boyard on TPMP

His meeting in front of the 17^e correctional chamber of Paris should have taken place almost a month ago, Thursday November 10. It was finally postponed to Tuesday, December 17, for procedural reasons. On the big day, the host and producer Cyril Hanouna did not make the trip to respond to his numerous insults and threats “against an elected representative of the Republic”, the rebellious deputy Louis Boyard, live on the set of Touche pas à my post (TPMP), in November 2022. The elected official for the 3rd constituency of Val-de-Marne was the only one present at the hearing.

However, he did not miss the opportunity to launch a challenge, through a video posted on his X account (formerly Twitter), to the watchdog of Breton billionaire Vincent Bolloré: “I would go to this trial. Mr Cyril Hanouna, will you go to your trial? » Without result. Far from being anecdotal, this skirmish between the populist leader and the left-wing elected official represents a pivotal moment in the desire of the French audiovisual regulator, Arcom, not to renew the frequency of the C8 channel, favored platform of the far right.

Canal Plus withdraws four of its channels

An unprecedented choice – which also concerns the NRJ12 channel – which caused an earthquake within the French audiovisual landscape, while the Canal Plus group decided to withdraw four of its channels (Canal +, Canal + Sport, Canal + cinema and Planet +) from TNT.

The dispute between Cyril Hanouna and the man who was one of his regular columnists had its origins in a debate dedicated to the reception of 234 migrants picked up by the humanitarian ship Ocean Viking. The deputy for Val-de-Marne then took advantage of the invitation to denounce the actions of the owner of the channel, Vincent Bolloré, one of the eminent members of the billionaires club who “impoverish Africa” and have “participated in deforestation”.

Enough to immediately launch an outburst of hatred from the host-producer, who did not hesitate to insult the rebellious MP live, to the applause of the public and the encouragement of his columnists, with blows of “tocard”, ” jerk “, “jester” et ” shit “. Cyril Hanouna criticized him in particular for attempting a “coup de brilliance” and ordered him to “boycott the channel”.

Seized by France Insoumise, the French audiovisual regulator, Arcom, subsequently imposed a fine of 3.5 million euros – a record amount – on C8. Attempts by the channel’s management to cancel this sanction, two appeals filed before the Council of State, were rejected. “It is quite obvious that the host prevented his guest from criticizing the main shareholder of the group”then justified the rapporteur responsible for the file. It is now the facilitator’s turn to find out his potential sanction. He risks a fine of up to 12,000 euros and a community service sentence.