This is a man he knew well and knew by name: Jean-Claude Bourret and Patrick Poivre d’Arvor met on the airwaves of France Inter at the end of the 1960s, before meeting again on TF1, when the private channel was created on January 6, 1975. Editor-in-chief and presenter of the channel’s first news, Jean-Claude Bourret marked the history of French television by being the first to put a satellite weather map on the air. He was also the first to present a color news on TF1. We also owe him the first morning show on TF1, launched in 1984, and called Hello France, quickly aborted due to lack of audience. Thirty years later, it is Bruce Toussaint who is trying to put a morning show back on TF1, facing Telematin, and who will also be baptized soberly Good morning.
Guest of Sud Radio this Tuesday January 2, 2024, Jean-Claude Bourret was questioned about the legal cases targeting Patrick Poivre d’Arvor. Accused for almost three years by nearly 50 women of having abused, assaulted, harassed and/or raped them, several legal investigations have been opened against him. After several dismissals, for prescribed facts, Claire Chazal’s ex-husband wanted to defend his reputation by attacking all his accusers in “slanderous denunciation”. But in 2022, justice reverses course, and cancels the classifications without further action, considering that the seriality of the facts prevailed over their prescription. In 2023, PPDA was indicted for the first time.
“He’s a boy like all boys, when girls are around him”
For Jean-Claude Bourret, who was a great friend of PPDA for many years, the accusations against him are difficult to believe: “Patrick, I have known him since he arrived at France Inter. I arrived at France Inter in 1967, Patrick must have arrived in 1969, a swap like that. I remember very well (that) from time to time time, we went to his country house, in Côtes-d’Armor with his beautiful second-hand red BMW, so no need to tell you that I know the bird. He’s a boy like all the boys who are between 20 and 35 years old on TV, where the girls are all around. When the girl is consenting and the presenter wants to have a nice little momenteverything is fine, everyone is consenting, it is not prohibited by law.”
“I have a hard time believing it”
And he continued, suggesting that he had difficulty believing the accusations against Patrick Poivre d’Arvor, and that he preferred to wait for the court’s verdict before having a definitive opinion on the subject: “Where I fell from a height, obviously, and justice will say if these are lies or if it is the truth, it was when I discovered that he was abusing his status as a star presenter to have sex in two minutes on the carpet of his office slightly naive girls who came to see the presenter. I find it incredible. Personally, I have a hard time believing it, but ultimately, we’ll see what the courts say.. There are around thirty complainants, that’s what’s surprising.” Case (criminal and media) to follow!