A page of history turns at Radio-Canada with the departure on Saturday of Joël Le Bigot, the entrenched king of the airwaves on weekends for nearly 25 years. The emotion was palpable in the studios of ICI Première, where many of his former collaborators had gathered to pay tribute to the “last of the intractable”. And yet, the rebellious animator has always kept away from the world of the media, which he criticizes without embarrassment.
After more than 50 years of career, Joël Le Bigot has come to the conclusion that the information environment has not evolved for the better. He hates social networks, avoids continuous news channels, but above all, loathes political correctness. The 76-year-old host fears that his successors will never be able to aspire to the freedom of tone that has been his leitmotif throughout his life. Who would manage to stand up to the bosses without enjoying the popularity rating that Joël Le Bigot had?
“I never stopped myself from speaking out, even though I know it bothered management. Disturbing the management, in fact, was a pleasure for me. But now, the animators are watched, “he laments with the verve that we know him.
Joël Le Bigot does not spare Radio-Canada, which he accuses of having moved away from its international mandate in recent decades. On a daily basis, too much importance is given to news that, in his opinion, is not news. Miscellaneous facts, semantic debates and other Byzantine controversies that go on for days: Joël Le Bigot never attached importance to them.
This convinced nationalist, who makes no secret of having voted yes in 1980 and 1995, also questions the pan-Canadian mandate of the public broadcaster, which must reflect in its news coverage the reality of Canadians from a coast to coast.
“Hearing about a fake tornado for eight minutes is not news. It’s news for a minute, then we should move on to something else, to international news, to Africa for example. Criss! There is a fire in Bathurst and we are shown it on TV, it is not normal. Talking to us about the opioid crisis in Vancouver is fine. But why piss us off when someone knocks over a fire hydrant in Alberta? Joël Le Bigot gets carried away with this gritty humor that his listeners have learned to appreciate.
No regrets
That said, Radio-Canada has never sought to eject him, recognizes the new retiree. And for good reason, it allowed ICI Première to stay in first place in the ratings on Saturday mornings, polls after polls, for almost a quarter of a century.
This sometimes disarming outspokenness, which has made him successful, has nevertheless kept the government corporation’s ombudsman busy in recent years. In 2019, Joël Le Bigot was reprimanded for rejoicing in the assassination in India of a Christian missionary by the isolated tribe of the Sentinels, whom he was trying to evangelize. The host, who has never made a secret of his hostility to religions, had also received a reprimand a few years earlier for having made remarks which suggested that there was a link between pedophilia and Islam.
“There is a good woman who complained about something I said about Islam. Only one ! If 20 people had said that I had gone too far, then I would have had no trouble apologizing. But with each complaint, we are only talking about one person. It is unfortunate that the ombudsman defends the interests of Radio-Canada rather than those of the public,” insists the man who claims to have taken malicious pleasure during his career in “always being on the line” in his remarks.
shower of praise
This style, very singular for the antenna of Radio-Canada, earned him his share of detractors during his career. He has been accused of being outdated, even reactionary. To lack objectivity. To be disrespectful, especially to the women on his team.
Joël Le Bigot has always been completely indifferent to these reproaches. But among his collaborators, we are aware that for some people, it was fashionable to hate the host of Saturday and nothing else.
“Even though he teases us, even though he can be tough and he can cut things off, he was always very respectful. For me, he is the patriarch of radio. When I started participating in his show, I was scared, because I had heard all kinds of things. But it turns out that, beneath his grumpy looks, he’s someone who listens. Who leads his collaborators to be better, ”corrects the cultural columnist Ariane Cipriani, very admiring.
Sentiment shared by Francine Grimaldi, faithful collaborator until her retirement in 2019.
“He had a generosity to put others in the spotlight. He never showed off, even though he has a phenomenal culture. There aren’t many animators left with such a level of knowledge, ”emphasizes the former columnist, who believes that Joël Le Bigot is simply irreplaceable.