“Political humor is inseparable from France Inter”pleaded Adèle Van Reeth in the columns of Worldat the end of May, when the excitement gripped the faithful of “C’est encore nous” at the announcement of the cancellation of the show. “Political satire is part of our identity”insisted the director of the public station, at the start of the school year, in an interview with West France. Since Sunday evening, the leader has had the dizzying experience of what this commitment means, and what happens when a comedian’s political remarks arouse the outcry of part of the public rather than their laughter.
For the first time since taking office in the summer of 2022, Adèle Van Reeth had to take up her pen to respond to the several hundred emails and calls which flooded into Radio France after a sketch by Guillaume Meurice broadcast October 29 in “Le Grand Dimanche Soir”. In the same text, she condemns death threats “which are unacceptable and criminally reprehensible” of which the singer has been the target ever since.
Invited to deliver his sketch on the Sunday humor show, the “comrade” by Charline Vanhoenacker embarked on an inventory of the “disguises to scare” as Halloween approaches. “So at the moment, there is the Netanyahu disguise, which works quite well to scarethen launched Guillaume Meurice. Do you see who it is? Kind of a Nazi, but without a foreskin. »
Target of the usual detractors of public broadcasting
Very quickly, the usual detractors of public broadcasting and its comedians denounced the words used on X (formerly Twitter). The star lawyer of the CNews sets with positions close to the extreme right, Gilles-William Goldnadel, quickly announced that he was going to file a complaint against the man whom a little later he nicknamed “Die” – the doubling of consonants evoking the Nazi squadrons devoted to Hitler.
Then the circle of critics expanded significantly. “Foreskin or not: I would rather be in favor of circumcising Guillaume Meurice’s airtime (and Netanyahu’s mandate too, but that’s another story)”Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur, in turn, took a position on Tuesday, October 31, before trying a form of self-deprecation: “Ah if only Jews controlled the media!” » His tweet was accompanied by the hashtag #nazifythejewsanewfashion.
This reproach, also formulated by Me Goldnadel, recalls a precedent: at the start of the 2021 school year, Charline Vanhoenacker had scribbled a mustache reminiscent of that of the Führer on a poster by Eric Zemmour. A joke which sparked protests and earned him a summons to the office of Sibyle Veil, the president of Radio France.
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