Television host Cyril Hanouna was on trial Tuesday before the Paris criminal court for insults uttered on the set of his show “Touche pas à mon poste” (TPMP) on C8 against LFI deputy Louis Boyard, the only one present at the hearing.
Prosecuted for insulting a deputy, Cyril Hanouna faces a fine of 12,000 euros.
Franck Appietto, as general director of C8, was tried for the same facts.
On November 23, 2022, the deputy La France insoumise Louis Boyard filed a civil complaint against the host of C8, accusing him of having “insulted him live for having criticized the owner of his channel” Vincent Bolloré.
“You idiot”; “You’re an asshole”; “Tocard, go”; “Jester, go”; “You are a piece of shit”: five statements by the host in the “Fifteen minutes without filter” section of the show were singled out by Louis Boyard.
Former TPMP columnist during the year 2021, Louis Boyard was invited on November 10, 2022 as a deputy in an issue dedicated to the reception of the Ocean Viking migrant rescue boat.
He then triggered the anger of Cyril Hanouna by mentioning the “five richest people” in France who, according to him, “are impoverishing Africa”, citing billionaire Vincent Bolloré, shareholder of companies in Africa and owner of the Canal+ group.
“It was the political statement that was insulted”, because “in my capacity as a deputy, I pointed out the responsibility of (Vincent) Bolloré”, insisted Louis Boyard at the bar of the court, believing that there was had on the part of the host “a desire for censorship”.
“I felt hatred” on the set, he added.
Cyril Hanouna’s defense pointed to a “new coup” by the MP, requesting the release of Cyril Hanouna who had “only responded to the invectives of Mr. Boyard”, insisted Mr. Stéphane Hasbanian.
“The sequence happened exactly the way he (Louis Boyard) had dreamed,” said Franck Appietto’s lawyer, Me Olivier Chappuis.
In February 2023, seized on this sequence of around ten minutes, Arcom sanctioned C8 with a record fine of 3.5 million euros.
The media regulator considered that these remarks “infringed the rights of the guest, respect for his honor and reputation”, adding that this sequence reflected “a lack of awareness by the publisher of its obligation to control its broadcast “.
The judgment will be rendered on February 20, 2025.
