Louis Boyard does not want to stop there. Less than a week after his heated argument with Cyril Hanouna on the set of the program “Touche pas à mon poste” (TPMP), on C8, the young deputy of La France insoumise returns for franceinfo on this sequence. In addition to a complaint filed against the star host of Vincent Bolloré’s group, the elected representative of Val-de-Marne is now asking for the opening of a parliamentary commission of inquiry at the National Assembly on media concentration. in France. He also defends a bill aimed in particular at prohibiting an owner from holding more than 20% of the shares of a media. Maintenance.
Franceinfo: You have decided to file a complaint for “public insult towards a person in charge of a public service mission” against the host Cyril Hanouna, why?
Louis Boyard: I couldn’t not file a complaint. When an elected official is insulted on a television set, it is something that should not be missed. Then, I also decided to take legal action because I had a thought for the millions of people who are insulted each time racist and Islamophobic remarks are made on the set of this program. [“Touche pas à mon poste”]. I also wanted to show that we couldn’t let everything be said. This scene happened because I wanted to criticize the owner of the C8 channel, Vincent Bolloré, and I didn’t expect to be censored.
This case puts the finger on a major political situation in our country, namely that billionaires own media in France and that we cannot freely criticize the owners of these channels when they play a major role in our companies. This is a very worrying symptom, and that is why we are proposing our law, on November 24, on the end of media concentration.
How can this law concretely prevent the concentration of the media by certain businessmen, as you denounce?
Our bill will prohibit owning more than 20% of a medium when you are a multi-owner of channels. This means that no one alone can influence the editorial line of a media. NoWe don’t think we should establish media independence, but pluralism, which today is prevented by the fact that these billionaires have a monopoly everywhere. It is beyond comprehension.
“Vincent Bolloré is not just any channel owner. He influences all the media he owns to carry a far-right political line. It is enough to see the relationship between the Bolloré empire and Eric Zemmour to understand that there is indeed a political line that is defended through this monopoly. This is also what we want to denounce.”
Louis BoyardMP LFI
Cyril Hanouna has also decided to take legal action against you for defamation. Are we not also witnessing a personal battle between you?
I let justice do its job. Cyril Hanouna tries to settle accounts and personalize the thing, but I will not enter the personal war game. On the other hand, I want to bring about a political debate and I ask Cyril Hanouna: is he ready to organize a debate about Vincent Bolloré’s activities in Africa? Unfortunately, I ask this question knowing full well that he will not.
You denounce “the stranglehold” of Vincent Bolloré on the channels of his group, but yet you worked as a columnist a few years ago on the set of Cyril Hanouna. Isn’t your speech contradictory?
It is not mandatory to have a duty of loyalty towards the person who remunerated you. I find that this rule reveals something serious. Afterwards, Vincent Bolloré’s activities in Africa is something that I read very recently. But I never changed my political line. I have always been in the denunciation of the extreme right and its trivialization. At the time, in “Touche pas à mon poste”, I was already contradicting, in fact, the editorial line of the channel.
Should the left continue to go on this show?
This is a debate that crosses all political formations, not just the left. To me, shows like “TPMP” are spaces for public expression that have been stolen by the billionaires who own them. Our responsibility is to stand up to these billionaires because the DNA of the left is to go to markets, to roundabouts and therefore to places that are never obvious.
“We have a cultural battle to wage. Personally, I will always be critical of the fact that this show is at the mercy of a billionaire who operates censorship and who organizes settling of accounts when we oppose him. .”
Louis BoyardMP LFI
What do you expect from the referral to the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (Arcom)?
Out of respect for the independence of Arcom and the conclusions it will issue, I do not wish to answer this question. It is not for me, parliamentarian, to give suggestions and even less instructions to Arcom. I have a duty that requires me not to influence him and, whatever his decision, I will respect it.
You gave a press conference on Monday to announce that you intended to take legal action against Cyril Hanouna, but none of your fellow LFI deputies were physically by your side, why?
It is linked to a question of organization and timing. It was planned that the president of my group, Mathilde Panot, would be present. But it couldn’t be done because everything was organized in a bit of a rush. I especially remember her support when she said that it was not possible for a member to be insulted in this way. Manuel Bompard, David Guiraud and many deputies also supported me.
“It’s not a fight that I am fighting alone. And then, there is above all the most important support: that of the people. In the street, no one came to see me and told me that he was not disagree with what I said.”
Louis BoyardMP LFI
Jean-Luc Mélenchon seemed a little cautious on the subject all the same… Did you talk to him?
Yes. He wanted to find out. With Jean-Luc Mélenchon, like all the elected officials of LFI, we are not in a personal fight against Cyril Hanouna or Vincent Bolloré. We are in a political fight against a media empire that prevents freedom of expression. The only one who is today in a personal approach is Cyril Hanouna. He organized a two-hour program on Monday evening which turned into a political trial against me.
You want to set up a parliamentary commission of inquiry into media concentration in the National Assembly. Is there not a risk of duplication with that carried out by the Senate last March?
The 32 recommendations proposed by the Senate are very interesting and I welcome them. Now, there was this sequence and I think we should take advantage of it to launch this commission of inquiry into media concentration. It must more precisely target the Bolloré empire, its financing and its consequences on our democracy. The subject is so serious that everyone must now take it up. The Assembly will do it, I hope, but I would like the government to take it up too. This is such an important subject that all institutions need to address it.