Benjamin Castaldi is totally opposed to Arcom’s choice to eliminate C8. On July 24, just after the audiovisual policeman’s announcement, the former columnist of Don’t touch my post had contested the decision using strong words: “The removal of the C8 channel deeply shocked and outraged me. This decision seems to me to be blatant censorship, reminiscent of the methods of totalitarian regimes. For me, the plurality of votes is an essential pillar of democracy. Seeing C8 disappear is a direct attack on this diversity, depriving us of access to varied perspectives and alternative content that falls outside the box. By denouncing this suppression, I join those who defend freedom of expression and the right to free information. Mobilization around this issue seems essential to me to protect spaces of freedom against any form of censorship, in order to ensure a rich and diverse public debate. no one forces people to watch a channel… And it’s certainly not up to the state to decide what is good or bad… And if you don’t like it, skip it, it will put fewer people out of work…“
This Friday, October 18, Benjamin Castaldi was invited to the microphone of France Info on the occasion of the release of the series Worship on Prime Videowhich looks back on the Loft Story phenomenon. On the sidelines of this interview, the one who presents the morningEurope 2 since the start of the school year has once again been outraged by Arcom’s decision: “When we pay a fine, we have made amends for what we did wrong. So, we’re starting from scratch, that’s my point of view“, he first said, believing that C8 did not have to be removed because of its repeated sanctions.
Benjamin Castaldi attacks Arcom
“Above all, it’s still crazy to remove the first DTT channel from a country“, continues Benjamin Castaldi, he who left C8 last year. The latter also clarified that his departure had nothing to do with the controversies which could take place in particular in TPMP : “I didn’t leave because of the slip-ups, but because I couldn’t bear to talk about things that I wasn’t really legitimate about. I don’t want to talk about that, it’s not my job, I’m here to entertain and have fun, and not to inform people.“
For Benjamin Castaldi, it is Cyril Hanouna who is directly targeted by this decision: “I continue to say that it is not normal that we removed the C8 frequency. Afterwards I understand that Cyril Hanouna is disturbing, but it is not because we want to cut down a tree that we must burn the forest. There are 350 people who will be unemployed because of this story. That goes a long way to calm someone down.“The presenter, now 54 years old, is certain that his colleague has not said his last word in this story:”I’m not worried about Cyril and I think he will ensure that everyone who finds themselves on the floor because of this decision continues to work alongside him.”
France