Everything happened very quickly for Thomas Sotto a few months ago. In total discretion, the 51-year-old journalist orchestrated his departure from the France Télévisions group. A group for which he had been working since 2017. At the time, he inherited the presentation of Further investigation on France 2 and immediately becomes Laurent Delahousse's joker for the weekend 8 p.m. news. On this same channel, Thomas Sotto also played the programs The political show et You have the floor. Finally, in 2021, he became the figure of Telematin alongside Julia Vignali. The TV man wore two hats: co-presenter but also editorial director.
A final role which caused him to find himself in turmoil. Indeed, at the beginning of July 2024, Thomas Sotto is at the heart of a controversy, the fault of the testimonies of several collaborators of the morning show. Via the magazine Teleramathey pointed the finger at his attitude behind the scenes and it was revealed that at least eight journalists had taken turns programming the show since his arrival. “I came with a lump in my stomach. I thought about changing careers…“, recalled an anonymous source. Another said: “We schedule a guest, which the editor-in-chief validates, but behind it, we cancel at the request of Thomas Sotto. There is disrespect on his part, cold anger, he denigrates the work“. A former employee of Telematin had no less damning words towards the host. “I've never seen an entertainer that everyone was so afraid of. I spent horrifying Sundays where he canceled the guest saying 'I want something else', without specifying what. I cried very little at my jobs but at theirs yes, several times“, she confided.
Thomas Sotto spoke out and admitted to being “limitless”
Faced with the situation, Thomas Sotto wanted to react, always in the pages of Telerama. “Am I putting pressure on the teams? Yes, probably, because it's part of my job“, he admitted, even admitting “desires a little too limitless, perhaps“. The father of two nevertheless assured that he had “corrected the situation two years ago.“So it is.”hurt” that he found himself after discovering these accusations. “Télématin, it's a lot of pressure, fatigue, and perhaps for some a feeling of injustice, because no one deserves anything. Yes I can be demanding, in a good or bad mood. I am very frank, I say things eye to eye“, he concluded.
Still no reason to stop comments on the subject. So much so that France Télévisions also came out of silence, through Stéphane Sitbon-Gomez, the group's director of antennas and programs. He was speaking about this particular climate which would reign behind the scenes in Telerama : “Télématinit is one of the toughest programs of the PAF, due to its staggered schedule and its specificity. We have changed a lot of things in recent years to renew it. The team carried a lot. We also made mistakes, I had the opportunity to recognize them several times and we perhaps did not hear the warnings enough“Moreover, the manager indicated that these complaints had been heard: “We will take the necessary measures after carefully examining the new situations. Our editorial requirements do not exempt us from managerial responsibilities.“
New life on RTL
A few weeks later, an unexpected outcome occurred: Thomas Sotto announced on July 29 that he would not be no return to orders Telematin nor even within the France Télévisions group at the start of the school year. Instead, he chose to join the RTL morning show, where he succeeded Yves Calvi. However, he assured the AFP that his transfer had no link with the investigation of Telerama. It is clear in any case that his arrival with Amandine Bégot did not boost audiences since the radio station lost its second place. The last quarter was the first time in its history that it fell below the 5 million mark (-307,000 listeners over one year). So, are the changes made at the start of the school year to blame?
