For months, bars and restaurants have been closed. While most French people put up with it reluctantly, others are not afraid to disobey. Thus, some restaurateurs in crisis have decided to ignore health restrictions and open their doors anyway … and customers are there. Worse still, they are often those from whom great respect for the law is expected. At the end of January 2021, ten magistrates had been fined by the police over lunch in an establishment located in front of the Paris Court of Appeal. Practices strongly condemned by Philippe Etchebest, who has nevertheless set himself up as the spokesperson for the restaurant sector, multiplying rants on television since the start of the pandemic. Wednesday March 3, 2021, The chained Duck made new controversial revelations. This time, it is journalists and doctors who are said to have been grilled in an underground restaurant.
On February 24, according to the satirical newspaper, police officers carried out a check in an establishment located on the ground floor the headquarters of the Altice group (which notably owns BFMTV) in the 15th arrondissement of Paris. Our colleagues affirm that journalists from the 24/7 news channel "were doing the bamboche ” at the table, in the company of executives from the AP-HP (Assistance publique – Hôpitaux de Paris) and a officer of the capital's fire brigade. The twenty or so guests were reportedly fined, while the restaurant's chef was taken into custody for "endangering the life of others". The same day, the magazine Capital revealed that the brewery "Aux 3 Présidents" would never have closed its doors … and would belong to the CEO of Altice, Patrick Drahi.
Marc-Olivier Fogiel, boss of BFMTV, respond on Twitter
A few hours after these revelations, the director of BFMTV wanted to react. On his Twitter account, Marc-Olivier Fogiel firmly denied the information from his colleagues: “To end the day, Contrary to the rumors of the last 24 hours, I would like to point out that no journalist or consultant of BFMTV was arrested in an underground restaurant in Paris at the end of February”, he wrote. While an internet user accused him of playing with words, the journalists having been fined and not arrested, the channel's boss again denied: "Sorry, neither ”, he commented under his own post. While waiting to disentangle the true from the false, this story does not quite improve the image of BFMTV…
To end the day, contrary to rumors of the past 24 hours, I would like to point out that no journalist or consultant from @BFMTV was arrested in an underground restaurant in Paris at the end of February.
– Marc-Olivier FOGIEL (@FogielMarcO) March 3, 2021
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