France Inter comedian Guillaume Meurice fired for “repeated disloyalty”

France Inter comedian Guillaume Meurice, suspended since the beginning of May, was dismissed for “serious misconduct”, he announced on Tuesday June 11. In an email sent to France Inter staff at the end of the morning, the CEO of Radio France, Sibyle Veil, explained that she had made this decision “for repeated disloyalty to the company.”

Guillaume Meurice was removed from the air on May 2, four days after having reiterated his controversial remarks about the Israeli Prime Minister made at the end of October. “By finally reiterating his comments on the air in April, Guillaume Meurice ignored the warning he had received, the warning from Arcom [le régulateur de l’audiovisuel] and subverted the prosecutor’s decision”, which had “expressly consented to the complainants the fact that ‘these comments fuel hatred'”, recalls Sibyle Veil. “He left us no other choice but to draw the consequences of his obstinacy and his repeated disloyalty”she explains.

“Instead of calming down, he inflamed the controversy for months. In his book and in his media interventions, he made insinuations that were not only false but seriously damaging to France Inter and Radio France, going so far as to put doubts the independence and impartiality of our work.

“In disregard of the collective interest, he fueled the most unfounded arguments of our detractors”argues Sibyle Veil, while emphasizing that “neither freedom of expression nor humor have ever been threatened at Radio France.” “We must be careful not to further damage a society already crossed by many divisions and fractures. The right to make mistakes applies to everyone and of course applies in the field of humor. But the sense of the common good equally applies to everyone, including comedians.concludes the CEO of Radio France.