The tension was palpable on Monday October 3, 2022 on the set of It’s up to you. Anne-Elisabeth Lemoine and her team received Helen Devynck, a former journalist who reveals that she was the victim of Patrick Poivre d’Arvor, accused by several women of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment. Recently she published her book Immunity (Editions du Seuil) where she delivers her testimony. On the antenna of France 5, she confides again.
In full broadcast, the case splashing Julien Bayou, ex-boss of EELV accused of psychological violence on his former companion, is mentioned. Remember that feminist associations have been monitoring the behavior of the politician for years. It is then that the question of “feminist totalitarianism” arises in It’s up to you. It was then that Hélène Devynck was questioned on the management of the crisis around PPDA by TF1. “Today, TF1 pretends we don’t exist. The company can’t even look at what happened at home. So I am wary of this word ‘totalitarianism’. When there are ten years of sexual assault and rape… That’s oppression“, she explains.
In her speech, she is cut off by Patrick Cohen, who is around the table like every evening. “In this case, Bayou is not accused of rape. No way“, did he declare. A small intervention that Anne-Elisabeth Lemoine deemed unnecessary judging by his reaction. The host indeed took over her columnist in the process: “No, but that’s not what we’re talking about.“Far from chickening out, the 60-year-old journalist continued, firmly insisting:”Yes, we compare the two situations.“And while Hélène Devynck was trying to explain herself, Patrick Cohen spoke up again.”There, it is about political parties and the Bayou affair“, he added, highlighting the nuance between the two cases.
Finally, Matthieu Belliard, who had also participated in the debate a few minutes earlier, took the floor again, leading the discussion on the main subject: the responsibility of the company in such cases. A tense moment that was able to give way to the continuation of the show without a hitch.
let’s remember that Patrick Poivre d’Arvor and Julien Bayou are presumed innocent of the charges against them until the final closure of the case.