Barely a month ago, 98.5 FM was still planning a place for MC Gilles in its September schedule, giving him, among other things, his own Friday evening show.
Wednesday morning, Cogeco Media’s flagship station announced, in an internal memo, that it was severing all ties with the popular cowboy-hatted host.
The microphone of Dave-Éric Ouellet, the man under MC Gilles’ western shirt, was disconnected, his access to the station’s computers was revoked and his intervention on Tuesday in the show Quebec nowwhere he summarized The Chiefs ! in a humorous way, will have been his last.
MC Gilles, who collaborated with Paul Arcand for 19 years, also disappears from the menu of Since you have to get up Friday morning. He will no longer appear there, the helmsman of 98.5 FM, Paul Arcand, confirmed to me.
But what happened, in a few weeks, for relations to deteriorate to this point and culminate in the dismissal of the star columnist?
Here is what 98.5 FM employees received in their email box on Wednesday, shortly before 10 a.m. “For professional reasons which remain internal, the association between Cogeco Media and MC Gilles ended yesterday, Tuesday April 9. He will not be replaced before the end of the current season. No further comments will be made,” reveals the short message, which was unsigned.
Despite the impression this dismissal might give, it is not a cancellation linked to the #metoo movement. MC Gilles was negotiating his contract for the fall term, nothing had yet been initialed, and the talks degenerated into an explosive confrontation with his bosses. Tuesday evening, he was thanked. In theory, MC Gilles was to remain on the air, with Patrick Lagacé and Catherine Beauchamp, until June 21.
Contacted on Wednesday afternoon, MC Gilles confirmed to me that he had “personality conflicts” with his colleague Patrick Lagacé as well as with the management of 98.5 FM. MC Gilles did not appreciate that his role was considerably reduced on the air, in anticipation of September. His participation in the show Quebec nowwhich Philippe Cantin will pilot, would have been reduced to a single column and he was not jumping for joy at the idea of hosting in the Friday time slot, between 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
In his column published on 1er April, my colleague Mario Girard revealed that this Friday show would have brought together radio moments from 98.5 FM in the form of a humorous summary. The problem? MC Gilles claims to have never given his agreement – or even signed any paper – to host it.
“I was very angry,” confides MC Gilles. I was on vacation in the South and read in the paper about the potential concept for my own show. I felt like they were forcing it down my throat. »
This is false, replies management. An agreement in principle and a contract summarizing the various implications of MC Gilles at 98.5 FM were being drafted, indicates the general director of communications and marketing at Cogeco, Christine Dicaire.
“It’s an open secret in the station that there were differences of opinion regarding my future,” slips MC Gilles, repeating “that we weren’t going to the same place, that We didn’t get along.”
MC Gilles also refutes the label of “whiner” which has been given to him by some of his colleagues. “It makes me laugh to hear that, while we were in negotiations. Is negotiating the same thing as complaining? » asks MC Gilles.
The contributor to Infoman and Tout le monde en parole maintains that the atmosphere “was far from being festive” behind the scenes of the Quebec now, at 98.5 FM. MC Gilles speaks of a tense and stormy work climate, which made his work almost impossible on the return show, which colleague Patrick Lagacé has directed since 2019.
Last September, MC Gilles even said he obtained a note of absence from his doctor, in order to preserve his mental health. Since then, he has worked from home and only goes to the 98.5 FM offices at Place Bonaventure to speak into the microphone. MC Gilles did not detail the origin of his argument with Patrick Lagacé, which occurred at the end of summer 2023.
“But it would have been possible to finish the last two months of my contract,” explains MC Gilles. Patrick Lagacé did not react to the allegations of his former collaborator.
The last year has been extremely eventful at 98.5 FM, several sources tell me. First, the succession of Paul Arcand generated a lot of uncertainty and speculation internally. Who would follow Patrick Lagacé on the morning show? Who would keep their job on the homecoming show? Who would replace Nathalie Normandeau between 10 a.m. and noon?
Listeners don’t like their listening habits being disrupted and almost all of the 98.5 FM channels will undergo significant changes at the start of the school year. Which makes executives nervous, of course.
Paul Arcand has been waking up Montrealers for 20 years and his departure closes an important chapter in the history of Quebec radio. For the faithful of Since we must rise, know that Catherine Brisson (culture) and Frédéric Labelle (social media) will return alongside Patrick Lagacé. Paul flies away, but his collaborators stay.