President of this commission, the elected Renaissance took part in Cyril Hanouna’s show, attracting the wrath of his colleagues. On the left, parliamentarians are calling for his resignation.
THE chairman of the commission of inquiry into TNT has been in turmoil since his appearance on Cyril Hanouna’s show, “Touche pas à mon poste” (“TPMP”), Tuesday April 2. Quentin Bataillon, elected from the presidential majority, criticized the host Yann Barthès, interviewed by the commission on March 27.
“It was a mistake and I regret it”, the parliamentarian admitted on Thursday on Franceinfo. Between reframing and calls for resignation, franceinfo returns in five acts to the controversy targeting the 30-year-old elected official.
Act 1: the commission of inquiry interviews several television figures, including Yann Barthès
Since its launch in December at the initiative of LFI deputies, the commission of inquiry has heard the heads of the largest audiovisual groups, including Vincent Bolloré, as well as presenters from CNews and C8 (Canal+ group), such as Pascal Praud and Cyril Hanouna . Auditions scrutinized by the media regulator, Arcom, which will have to decide at the end of the year whether C8 and CNews keep their frequency, after numerous calls to order. The commission must deliver its conclusions by May 8 at the latest.
The host of “Quotidien” on TMC (TF1 group channel), Yann Barthès, was heard by parliamentarians on March 27, at the request of the National Rally. Reason: its members are not invited to the talk show set. “The RN has been boycotting, discrediting and attacking the ‘Quotidien’ teams for years”responds the facilitator to the commission, declaring that the “editorial slant” of the show was marked by “humanist, anti-racist values”. To the elected representatives of the RN, Yann Barthès launches: “I wanted to know why you absolutely wanted to come on a show that you don’t like?”
Yann Barthès to RN deputies: “I wanted to know why you absolutely wanted to come on a show that you don’t like?”#DirectAN #TNT #Daily pic.twitter.com/zJBGtpYCG1
— LCP (@LCP) March 27, 2024
Relations with the RN: Yann Barthès exhibits a list of “violence” suffered by the Quotidien teams, “particularly on the ground”. “The list is here.”#DirectAN #Daily #TNT pic.twitter.com/edOWayDPOV
— LCP (@LCP) March 27, 2024
Also heard, Ara Aprikian, number 2 of the TF1 group, responsible for content, ensures that “all political sensibilities are expressed[aient] in the show” and that the “legal framework” was “perfectly respected”.
Direct competitor of “Quotidien” with his show “TPMP”, Cyril Hanouna makes fun of Yann Barthès on X after this hearing, during which the host briefly got confused in his remarks after having misplaced his notes. It is “Jean-Marc without Jeff Panacloc”mocks Cyril Hanouna in reference to a puppet and its famous ventriloquist.
Act 2: Quentin Bataillon, guest of “TPMP”, criticizes the attitude of Yann Barthès
The president of the commission of inquiry on TNT goes to the set of Cyril Hanouna’s show on Tuesday to discuss the work of the commission, often criticized previously in “Touche pas à mon poste”. The elected representative of the presidential majority scratches Yann Barthès in passing: “I think it was the first time I got angry, he had a pretty arrogant attitude from the start, he refused to answer our questions”said Quentin Bataillon.
“It’s the first time I got angry (…) He had a pretty arrogant attitude from the start!”@qbataillonthe President of the TNT Inquiry Commission of the National Assembly, reacts to the attitude of Yann Barthès! #TPMP pic.twitter.com/ey2W7ygt2c
— TPMP (@TPMP) April 2, 2024
The deputy also tackles the commission’s rapporteur, the rebellious Aurélien Saintoul, who will write his report “alone” by early May. “I imagine he will be marked [politiquement]“comments Quentin Bataillon, wishing “get away from the witch hunt, the hunt for presenters, journalists, channels”. “We don’t go into people’s homes and tell them what is good and what is bad.” And, “sometimes the contempt that some people may have for your show is transferred to those who watch it”declares the parliamentarian to Cyril Hanouna and his columnists.
Act 3: several deputies criticize this intervention and call for resignation
Aurélien Saintoul is quick to react on to the words of his colleague. “Thank you for your experimental approach to moving the commission of inquiry forward.” “Don’t forget to check if we can now name or even criticize Vincent Bolloré in ‘TPMP’ without risking being attacked by Cyril Hanouna”he adds in reference to an episode from November 2022 where LFI deputy Louis Boyard, guest on the show, was insulted live after questioning the group’s boss.
Several other deputies denounce on X the intervention of Quentin Bataillon on the C8 channel. For Alexis Corbière (LFI), “no one can believe in its independence and objectivity anymore”. “Here’s another one who is damaging Parliament and is tired of destroying democracy”, supports environmentalist Benjamin Lucas. Olivier Faure, leader of the Socialist Party, denounces the fact of“go to Hanouna to spit on Barthès while chairing a commission of inquiry into TNT”.
Like the first secretary of the PS and others on the left, the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, calls for Wednesday’s departure “without delay” of Quentin Bataillon, considering that his arrival and his remarks in “TPMP” are “a real scandal”. The environmentalist deputy Sophie Taillé-Polian, for her part, announces that she will contact the ethics officer of the National Assembly, requesting his “revocation”.
🔴 I contact the ethics officer of the National Assembly.
THE @EcologistsAN and I condemn the inappropriate behavior of @qbataillonpresident of the Commission of Inquiry relating to the allocation of DTT frequencies.
We demand his removal so that another president… pic.twitter.com/LQsYgxyhhq
— Sophie Taillé-Polian (@STaillePolian) April 3, 2024
However, rNothing in the regulations of the National Assembly provides for a dismissal procedure for a president of a commission of inquiry. uThe commission of inquiry in fact has its own office, from which the president and the rapporteur come, a parliamentary source reminds franceinfo. In a new message onthe rebellious Aurélien Saintoul announces having asked Quentin Bataillon, by mail, “to bring together the office of the commission of inquiry in order to rule on its own fate”.
Act 4: Quentin Bataillon reframed by the majority
From Tuesday evening, Sylvain Maillard, president of the Renaissance group in the Assembly, is calling on Quentin Bataillon, according to the entourage of the boss of the majority parliamentarians, interviewed by franceinfo. Still according to this source, Sylvain Maillard “reminded him of his responsibilities as president of the commission under investigation, of impartiality, that going on a set of an interviewee to criticize another was not possible. And that his word did not bind only him and not the group” Renaissance.
On Wednesday, Yaël Braun-Pivet spoke with the president of the commission, franceinfo learned from the president of the National Assembly. A little earlier in the day, she had called in a press release MP Renaissance to the “reserve” And “to discernment” in his “positions” public.
For his part, Yann Barthès speaks on the subject Wednesday evening, in his show. “I simply want to tell the president of the commission that he has ruined a commission which could have contributed something to the democratic debate, that he has fueled the hatred machine. For an elected official of the nation, it ‘is very serious’he blurted. “I don’t understand at all what he did. At what point does he think it’s a good idea? He’s ruining all the work of the commission…”, supports a Renaissance deputy with franceinfo THURSDAY.
Act 5: Quentin Bataillon recognizes “clumsiness” but assumes an “act of pedagogy”
Guest on franceinfo on Thursday, Quentin Bataillon finally made an act of contrition: “It was a mistake and I regret it”, he said about his statements about Yann Barthès. However, the MP defends himself by explaining that he accepted Cyril Hanouna’s invitation to “do pedagogy” and explain “the role of the commission of inquiry”now that the auditions are over. “Yes, I have an opinion, I have a political position”assures the elected representative of the majority while wanting to stand out from his LFI rapporteur Aurélien Saintoul: “I am not anti-anyone and for no-one, that was the meaning of my presidency. That’s why I said that I would go to all the media. The audience of ‘TPMP’ and in particular the young people, “It was important to talk to them.”
Is he considering resigning? “Today, I am in teaching work”, repeats Quentin Bataillon. As for the credibility of this commission after this controversy, its president assures that the “44 auditions were done correctly”. “I’m not the one who’s going to write the report, I have no influence over it”he argues.
The Renaissance deputy slips in passing having “contacted TF1 to “transmit” that he has no “form of animosity against them”. “I have a lot of respect for this show and if Yann Barthès invites me, I will go with pleasure.”