Frédéric Taddeï replaces Natacha Polony as director of Marianne

The CMI France group, owned by Czech magnate Daniel Kretinsky, announced on Thursday December 19 that it would not sell the weekly Marianne and appointed Frédéric Taddeï as its head, replacing Natacha Polony, according to a press release.

The group “is committed to maintaining with Marianne a weekly that defends republican, social and secular values”he assures. In July, CMI France ceased discussions for a takeover by the conservative billionaire Pierre-Édouard Stérin, then in November those initiated with the entrepreneur Jean-Martial Lefranc.

Frédéric Taddeï will take office on March 1

“Taking note of the difficulties in finding an external takeover solution for Marianne, and particularly concerned with guaranteeing the sustainability of the title, Natacha Polony indicated that she was not part of the future management of the newspaper”explains CMI France. The journalist and essayist, who has been in office since 2018, will maintain a weekly editorial.

Frédéric Taddeï, notably known for having hosted “Ce soir (ou été!)” until 2016 and present on Europe 1 since 2005, will take up his duties on March 1. He also hosted the program “Interdit d’interdiction” on the RT France channel, the French branch of the Russian channel RT. He had decided to stop the presentation at the beginning of 2022, citing “loyalty to (his) country”, in the context of the war in Ukraine. Since then, RT, accused of spreading propaganda for Russia, has been banned in the European Union, and RT France had to close following the freezing of its assets.