A phony interview with Fidel Castro, accusations of plagiarism in several of his books, a 15-month suspended prison sentence in the Botton affair… Nothing in his career prevented Patrick Poivre d’Arvor from keeping his seat at the head of the 8 p.m. of TF1. PPDA, an “untouchable” from TV who would have taken advantage of his status as a star journalist? In any case, it is this adjective that Further investigation for its number broadcast Thursday evening on France 2, and which is interested in the 16 complaints for rape and sexual harassment which target the journalist. Culture Media saw the show in preview, its director Romain Verley explains what his investigation reveals.
The survey set-up PPDA, the fall of an untouchable ended the day before it aired, after a complaint was filed by PPDA against the 16 women who accused it. “PPDA is in an offensive not media, but legal, legal. It attacks 16 women for lying”, specifies Romain Verley. “PPDA declares that these women are ‘dismissed women, in need of fame, and/or feminists of the last hour’. These women who accuse PPDA of harassment and sexual violence are only attracted, according to him, ‘by the money, power, fame’ and that they only do it ‘for revenge’.
Four letters unveiled by PPDA
Is this complaint from the 74-year-old journalist related to the announcement of the broadcast of the show Further investigation ? “The coincidence is disturbing”, observes Romain Verley, who has been working on this investigation for six months. “We have repeatedly offered to PPDA and its two lawyers to be present in my report. They have always refused,” he adds. “We have made an investigation for and against.”
“This 43-page complaint is extremely virulent. In its defence, PPDA produces letters from four of its accusers, letters which were allegedly written after the acts of aggression which they denounce. And, according to PPDA, these letters are affectionate and would be incompatible with acts of rape or assault.”
“You will find these letters in Further investigation. In the complaint, they are not reproduced in extenso, they are facsimiles. They have to be put back into the context in which they were written, by women who could be under the influence, who were often in a position of inferiority, trainees or young journalists. Those letters exist, they’re in the court file, so we had to talk about them.”
The revelation of a seventh rape complaint
Another revelation from Further investigation, the new complaint for rape filed Wednesday, April 27 against PPDA by a woman whom the show chooses to call “Mathilde”. At the material time, Mathilde was 24 years old. As a young graduate, she made her debut at TF1. PPDA summons her to his office one evening. He asks her if she has a boyfriend. She replies no. “There, he gets up, he goes around his huge office, he comes to sit next to me, he puts his hands on my shoulders and he kisses me”, explains Mathilde in Further investigation. “He rocks me on the carpet. My head went somewhere else. My body was there, but I wasn’t there anymore. He took off my pants. He took off his pants. And he raped me. I couldn’t move. Anyway, I had no more reflexes.”
“His testimony is moving. He is at the heart of our program”, specifies Romain Verley. “27 years after the fact, she testifies in front of my camera. Today, her complaint is the seventh rape complaint against PPDA.”
Actions similar to Radio Classique
Further investigation also gives the floor to Marie (the first name has also been changed), who denounces the actions of PPDA to Radio Classique. Facts which are, this time, not prescribed. “She talks about her first day of internship at Radio Classique. She is 24 years old, PPDA is 68 years old. He quotes her on the air, receives her in his office and invites her to a theater premiere. She does not know the reputation of PPDA, she thinks that he will perhaps become her mentor. And she accepts the invitation”, details Romain Verley.
“And there, she tells us about an ordeal. She tells us that she has fallen into a trap. She says that, already on the scooter, he has a wandering hand, that in the theater she has the impression of being a vase”, continues the director. “She explains that he still has wandering hands during the show. He tries to kiss her twice when she leaves the theater, she refuses. The next day, she returns to her internship. Every evening, she says, PPDA makes her weekend proposals, wants to massage her. After a month, she gives up what is the internship of her life.”
A profession who knew?
Catherine Lambret, former director of the prestigious school of journalism IPJ, explains to Further investigation that she never sent young female students on internships to the editorial offices where PPDA worked. “His reputation was to attack girls”, he explains in the France 2 broadcast. , not to be the last to leave, otherwise PPDA might pounce on you.”
Conversely, the former employees contacted by Romain Verley say that they were not aware of anything. “But, if Catherine Lambret tells us this, it is because the teachers at the school were journalists from Antenne 2 and TF1, where PPDA worked, and who told her not to send young female students and to be wary of PPDA”, reveals the director.
The number of Further investigation entitled PPDA, the fall of an untouchable is broadcast Thursday evening at 11 p.m. on France 2. It also looks back on the ethical escapades of PPDA and its influence within the TF1 tower.