The legal battle between Hapsatou Sy and Éric Zemmour continues. Between the host and the famous essayist, hostilities began when in September 2018, they were both present on the set of the show “Les Terriens du Dimanche” on C8. Éric Zemmour then told Hapsatou Sy that his first name was “an insult to France”, he who was demanding a reform to eliminate first names considered “non-French”.
Faced with this live slip-up, the Canal+ group channel then decided to cut the extract during editing. Furious, the columnist still broadcast the sequence on social networks and took Éric Zemmour to court for public racial insult.
During a first trial in November 2022, Hapsatou Sy then asked the court to sentence the former presidential candidate to 10,000 euros in damages in the name of moral damage. A penalty that can turn into imprisonment in the event of non-payment. Despite a good defense, Éric Zemmour was convicted by the Paris court… but was quick to appeal.
Hapsatou Sy is jubilant on Instagram
This Thursday, March 28, 2024, the appeal trial finally took place. The Paris Court of Appeal confirmed the judgment rendered at first instance in January 2023. The criminal court had in fact found the far-right polemicist guilty “public insult because of origin, ethnicity, nation, race or religion” and imposed a fine of 4,000 euros on him. Éric Zemmour was also ordered to pay 3,000 euros in damages and 2,000 euros in legal fees.
Happy with this verdict, Hapsatou Sy expressed her joy on Instagram, barely leaving the court: “I will come back to talk to you later but I am very moved. Very moved. I won in the court of appeal against Éric Zemmour and I don’t know what to tell you, I will come back to you, I will tell you, I will tell you…”. she declared.
And to add: “It’s a relief. I would like to thank my lawyer Antoine Weil who was by my side from the beginning to the end of this fight and really it’s extraordinary for me. You can’t even imagine. It’s a fight that is beyond me. I will tell you because there are other things…”.