It was in September 2018, a television sequence that will be etched in our memories. Eric Zemmour, then a journalist and political columnist, was invited to the set of Thierry Ardisson’s meeting, “Les Terriens du dimanche” on C8. Eric Zemmour then told Hapsatou Sy, columnist of the show, that his first name “was an insult to France”. The former presidential candidate added that the first name “Corinne” would have been a better choice. Sensing the “high risk of legal condemnation”, the production company had cut the extract during editing but the columnist and entrepreneur had broadcast it on social networks. Hapsatou Sy was deeply affected by this affair, as she pointed out on Friday November 4 in an interview with Le Parisien: “In fact, Éric Zemmour, with these few words, ruined my life”she regretted.
Friday, November 4, 2022, the Paris prosecutor’s office demanded a fine of 20,000 euros against the president of the Reconquest party, for public insult of a racial nature, towards Hapsatou Sy. This asked the court to condemn the former presidential candidate to 10,000 euros in damages in the name of non-pecuniary damage. The penalty could turn into imprisonment in case of non-payment. Eric Zemmour’s lawyer, Me Olivier Pardo, argued that his client’s statement, which Hapsatou Sy may have felt as “something unpleasant”, did not constitute in law “an insult of a racial nature ” and pleaded for release. From now on, the judgment will be rendered on January 12.