This July 23, 2020, Christophe Girard resigned from his post of Deputy Culture at the City of Paris. He is questioned by elected environmentalists for his alleged links with the writer Gabriel Matzneff, targeted by an investigation for "rape of a minor".
This Thursday, July 23, Christophe Girard left his post of Deputy Culture at the City of Paris where he had just been renewed. The former mayor of the 4th arrondissement is questioned by elected environmentalists for his alleged links with the writer Gabriel Matzneff, who is the subject of an investigation for "rape" on minor. But what is Christophe Girard really criticized for?
Between 1986 and 1987, the elected representative worked as secretary general of the Maison Yves-Saint Laurent, which financially supported the writer Gabriel Matzneff. The fashion house financed during these two years the costs of the hotel room where the author was recovering from an eye operation. At that time, the writer lived with Vanessa Springora, then 14 years old. In his autobiographical novel The consent, she tells about this relationship that devastated her. "He now rents a hotel room every year to escape the visits of the minors' brigade (which he calls" persecutions "(…) A generous patron, unconditional of his work, finances this substantial investment", she writes.
For his part, Gabriel Matzneff thanks in his book The Apple of my eye the Yves Saint Laurent Foundation, in particular Christophe Girard. "The employee of Yves Saint Laurent, this charming Christophe Girard whom I saw the other day, called me this morning to tell me that their Foundation (that deserves a capital letter!) Would now take charge of my bill. hotel ", he says. Later, he will confirm at New York Times that the fashion house took care of all its costs. According to the writer, the secretary general replied: "For us it's a drop of water, it's nothing, we love you very much."
In February 2020, Christophe Girard clarified the words of Gabriel Matzneff in a press release shared via his account Twitter following the publication of the article in the American newspaper. "As part of my duties and under the support that the company provided to many artists in temporary difficulty (Marguerite Duras, Tsilla Chelton, Hervé Guibert, Patrick Thévenon, Rudolf Nureyev …), the writer Gabriel Matzneff benefited, according to the instructions of Mr. Bergé, support for the settlement of accommodation costs, following eye surgery. ", he confided.
The writer ensured that he and Christophe Girard rubbed shoulders like friends. It is in particular this link between the two men that creates the controversy. However, the former deputy for Culture at the mayor of Paris explains that the author "is not a close friend". "It's a friendly relationship. I must have had dinner with him three or four times in thirty years. He says I'm one of his best friends. It's a bit excessive (…) Yes, today 'hui, Gabriel Matzneff calls me, I will take him on the phone, but I will not help him. ", he explains.
Christophe Girard confirms having taken care of the expenses of Gabriel Matzneff but ensures he did not know "that he was trying to escape the juvenile brigade"
However, the New York Times reveals that the writer has received, since 2002, an annual lifetime allowance from the Center national du livre (CNL), thanks to the support of Christophe Girard, who was deputy for Culture to the former mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë. Initially refused, the writing grant would have been granted to the retired author after Christophe Girard had played his relations.
As for the elected official, he confided that he did not remember how the granting of this allowance went. "I believe Gabriel Matzneff asked me for a letter of support. It had to be a standard letter. It can exist. At the Town Hall, we looked for her in the archives, but no one found her ", he confessed in The Parisian. "It is common for authors in financial difficulty to solicit letters of recommendation", had he specified his press release on Twitter.
On March 4, Christophe Girard was heard as a witness in the Matzneff affair as part of the investigation opened for "rapes committed on minors" of less than 15 years against the writer.
This July 19, while the City of Paris renewed its confidence in the elected representative by appointing him to the post of Deputy of Culture, the elected ecologists, allies of the PS mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, asked to suspend his functions .
A few days later, on July 23, activists from feminist associations, accompanied by elected environmentalists, demanded the departure of Christophe Girard under the windows of the Town Hall, where the first Municipal Council of the term was held. "It is not enough to have a clean criminal record to be deputy mayor of Paris, you also need ethical and moral qualities. Support for Gabriel Matzneff disqualifies Christophe Girard for this kind of responsibility", declared the elected ecologist Raphaëlle Rémy-Leleu at this gathering.
If Christophe Girard has resigned from his post of Deputy Culture, he remains adviser to Paris.