Testimonies that shake the Havas empire. Julien Carette and Christophe Coffre, respectively CEO and creative director of the communication agency Havas Paris, have “withdrawn” of their functions after accusations of harassment and sexual assault, confirmed, Monday, May 2, one of the leaders of the group to AFP.
Havas, a subsidiary of Vivendi, has also launched an audit after the publication of around twenty anonymous testimonies by the Instagram account Balance Ton Agency, which for nearly a week has denounced a long-standing sexist atmosphere within the agency. and implicates these two persons in charge.
At the helm for ten years of the agency of which they are now co-presidents, the two men are accused of having sought to “to kiss” Where “to touch” on many occasions female employees, sometimes trainees, in the premises of Havas Paris or during external events.
“JC is a brilliant guy but he has the sexuality of a teenager. (…) Under cover of being drunk, after two drinks, he jumps on anything that moves. Same for the DC (creative director ) of Havas Event. I remember to warn interns not to approach them during agency evenings”, according to one of these testimonies.
The facts date back, depending on the case, to two-three years and up to ten years, and have sometimes led to departures associated with non-disclosure agreements, tells AFP Anne Boistard, creator in 2020 of the Balance Ton Agency account. to denounce the excesses of communication agencies.
The two leaders continue to work for the agency, said the leader of Havas to AFP. But “they don’t lead meetings and are on the sidelines when it comes to managing the agency”he continued. “We are talking about twenty people who expressed themselves in an agency which has seen nearly 4,000 employees pass”he justified.