After Cyril Hanouna’s insults against MP Louis Boyard on C8, Arcom sends the case to an independent reporter

A week after MP Louis Boyard (LFI) suffered a barrage of insults from Cyril Hanouna on the set of “Touche pas à mon poste” (“TPMP”), on November 10, on C8, the director General of the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (Arcom, former Superior Audiovisual Council, CSA), Guillaume Blanchot, undertook to “seize the independent rapporteur, member of the Council of State”announced Arcom, Thursday, November 17.

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It was when he mentioned the name of Vincent Bolloré, first shareholder of Vivendi, owner of the Canal+ group to which C8 belongs, that Louis Boyard had drawn the wrath of the host-producer. Vincent Bollore “is not my boss, he is a friend of twenty years”justified Cyril Hanouna in the issue of November 14.

In a press release, the authority declares that Mr. Blanchot “has in fact considered that this file related to facts likely to justify the initiation of a sanction procedure, taking into account the formal notices already issued in the past with regard to C8”. The last formal notice issued against C8 (for clandestine advertising) dates from February.

“Our mission, to defend freedom of expression”

The Autorité’s decisions follow a gradual progression: a warning precedes a formal notice, which may lead to the opening of a sanction procedure. If this is the opinion of the independent rapporteur appointed by the Vice-President of the Council of State – in this case, Bertrand Dacosta –, a contradictory investigation is carried out, at the end of which he judges the relevance of pronouncing a sanction, as well as its nature. When informed, Arcom is free to comply or choose to apply a different sanction. This process could thus find its conclusion in several weeks.

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In addition, another decision by Arcom regarding “TPMP” could take place in the next few hours. The authority has undertaken to make the examination of a sequence broadcast on October 18 a priority. That day, returning to the murder of young Lola, Cyril Hanouna had made himself the champion of expeditious justice. “For me, the trial must be done immediately, he said in particular. Within hours, and done. It’s direct perpetuity, there’s not even a discussion. »

If there were to be a sanction, this will depend on the seriousness of the failures observed by the channel to meet its obligations.

Arcom rarely responds to reports so soon after receiving them. The Autorité considers that it must resist media and political pressures, and extract itself from emotional reactions to focus on legal issues. “Our primary mission is to defend freedom of expression in this country,” has a habit of recalling the president of Arcom, Roch-Olivier Maistre, referring to compliance with the 1986 law on freedom of communication.

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