The noose is tightening around Christophe Girard, the former cultural assistant to Anne Hidalgo (PS) who has just resigned, under pressure from feminists who denounced his links with the alleged pedophile writer Gabriel Matzneff.
The latest revelations from Mediapart help to understand the tumultuous episode that played out last Thursday backstage in the cozy offices of the Hôtel de Ville in Paris. We learn that Christophe Girard has invited several times to the restaurant, at the expense of the town hall, Gabriel Matzneff, and this while he has recently minimized his proximity to the sulphurous writer. A man whom he has known for 30 years and who dedicated to "my friend Christophe Girard" the very explicit book "The Apple of my eyes".
If the life and the alleged pedophile inclinations of the writer, today prosecuted for "rape of minors", were known to the entire Parisian Intelligentsia - everything was in his books - these have not been revealed to the general public that last January with the publication of the book of one of his victims, Vanessa Springora who, at 14, became the mistress of the then 50-year-old intellectual.
Service notes for lunches
The last restaurant bill of 85 euros dates back to February 12, 2019. It was eleven months before the publication of Vanessa Springora's “Consent” that Matzneff knew was imminent.
Last Thursday, Anne Hidalgo and her first deputy Emmanuel Grégoire asked the historic Mr. Culture to resign because of this cumbersome friendship? Because of his expense reports? Of the manifestation of feminists?
Feminists and elected environmentalists, contesting the renewal of Girard in the new mandate, brandished under the windows of the Town Hall banners including "Welcome to Pedoland". And demanded the opening of an internal investigation and the suspension of Christophe Girard.
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The episode led Anne Hidalgo to file a complaint against the two leaders of the sling, two elected EELV, Alice Coffin and Raphaëlle Rémy-Leleu.
An explanation with Emmanuel Grégoire
At the end of the week, the mayor still defended tooth and nail "my friend Christophe Girard", while keeping the restaurant bills silent. Anne Hidalgo had also split a tweet, shouting her "disgust", denouncing "infamous banners" and recalling that Christophe Girard "is neither closely nor remotely targeted by the slightest complaint".
That's enough ! Yesterday, outrageous words were uttered and infamous banners brandished. I will bring before the courts the serious public insults that have been directed against the mayor of Paris. I won't let anything go.
- Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo) July 24, 2020At the Town Hall, a source close to the executive says that the stormy episode “took place in Emmanuel Grégoire's office. They dug up the notes. Christophe Girard was summoned to explain himself ”.
"There was no pressure," says one of Anne Hidalgo's spokespersons. Emmanuel Grégoire, his chief of staff and Christophe Girard met. They brought these notes to his attention. They discussed it. It was Christophe Girard who made his decision. "
"Christophe Girard was clumsy"
Asked, Christophe Girard refers us to his lawyer Me Delphine Meillet: “Christophe Girard was clumsy and innocent to have lunch with Matzneff. These restaurant notes correspond to its agenda and its function of relating in the broad sense to the world of culture. "
But the lawyer denounces above all “a political affair before being a moral affair. This is the opportunity of the moment. All this is to destabilize Anne Hidalgo ”.
Nevertheless ... Friday, Anne Hidalgo "wanted to play transparency, specifies Emmanuel Grégoire, his first assistant. The first note was sent to the Paris prosecutor's office ”.
He had been heard by the police
Last March, Christophe Girard was heard by the police. In his capacity as former secretary general of Maison Yves-Saint Laurent between 1986 and 1987, he had organized the payment for almost two years of a hotel room while Gabriel Matzneff was leaving the hospital and seeking to hide from the Juvenile Brigade.
In the Metoo wave and the Polanski controversy at the Césars, feminists and the EELV group denouncing "the culture of rape" had warned the mayor of Paris.
This Tuesday, David Belliard, Transport Assistant and former head of the EELV municipal list, who nevertheless supported Alice Coffin and Raphaël Rémy-Leleu, was unreachable.
Carine Rolland appointed Culture Assistant
Anne Hidalgo appointed Carine Rolland, deputy in charge of Culture, to replace Christophe Girard on Tuesday.
Carine Rolland previously held the position of deputy in charge of the city of the quarter hour, a function that she will continue to carry jointly with Patrick Bloche, in charge, in particular, of school affairs.
Anne Hidalgo welcomes “Carine Rolland's unfailing field commitment, which will lead her to design and manage a cultural policy committed to serving Parisians, while respecting the structuring values of our political action, which are so many 'challenges for the cultural action of tomorrow: proximity, education, links between amateurs and professionals, accessibility, solidarity, circular economy… ”.
