For more than twenty years, Bernard de la Villardière has been at the helm of the magazine Exclusive inquiry, in which the journalist goes to the ends of the world to investigate numerous subjects, such as cybercrime, gangs, and even pedophilia. But this Saturday, January 20, 2024, the M6 journalist is annoyed by an investigation that his colleagues from France Télévisions carried out, and that he considers responsible : the one targeting Gérard Depardieuand distributed by the magazine Further investigation early December 2023. In this report, the French actor was portrayed as a sexual predator, and a sequence in which he sexualizes a young girl on horseback is broadcast, and caused strong controversy on social networks, and even more so in the ministry of the culture.
Asked by TV 2 WeeksBernard de la Villardière was keen to defend the principle of presumption of innocence from which Gérard Depardieu is supposed to benefit and which, according to him, Tristan Waleckx’s teams have flouted: “I respect the investigation, but for a public service broadcast to raise such a gallows, I find it scandalous. In a sense, it is a return to the Middle Ages. I believe in the presumption of innocence” protested the professional, who insisted on reminding that the media court should not prevail over true justice, the one in which he believes. “Every man deserves a judgment, and for the case to be judged, it must be investigated, to truly sort the true from the false. This is the work of justice” he concluded.
His contract with M6 is ending soon
In this interview, Bernard de la Villardière, who will celebrate his 66th birthday in a few weeks, announced that he was in an exclusive contract with M6 until 2025. When this contract expires, the journalist does not know whether he wishes to continue his career, or whether he intends to retire. One thing is certain, however: the investigative magazine Exclusive inquiry, which he designed and launched in 2005, and which will celebrate its twentieth anniversary next year, will continue without him. To replace him, the sixty-year-old has in mind a female face from M6: that of Florence de Soultraitwho had regained the reins of Restricted zone in 2021 during Ophélie Meunier’s maternity leave.