+ Libres, the first union of the Canal + group, said he was “
indignant and shocked
” at the dismissal of sports commentator Stéphane Guy “
both in substance and in form
”, in a
press
release published on Monday.
This reaction comes after Canal + 's decision to fire the star commentator on December 24 for supporting comedian Sébastien Thoen, himself fired in early December for a parody targeting CNews, the group's news channel, owned by Vivendi, billionaire Vincent Bolloré group.
While Canal + "
has built its image and reputation, among other things on impertinence, caricature and self-mockery, this event demonstrates the contempt of our management and our shareholder for these values
", protested the union.
At the origin of the redundancies, a sketch broadcast on the Paris site Winamax played by Sébastien Thoen (then sports columnist), alongside his former comrades of “
Discrete Action
”, Julien Cazarre and Thomas Séraphine.
Controversy following a parody
The parody mocked the presenter of CNews Pascal Praud, renamed "
Pascal Prono
", by mixing football considerations and popular subjects of the channel, such as immigration and jihadism.
Sébastien Thoen was fired in the wake, causing an internal outcry.
In question, according to the director of antennas and programs of Canal +, Gérald-Brice Viret, the fact that he appears with a person who “
constantly denigrates
” the teams of the channel - that is to say the humorist Julien Cazarre - thus legitimizing his comments.
Stéphane Guy had shortly after paid tribute to his "
friend
" Sébastien Thoen, believing that he did not have "
the exit he would have deserved
" before a match he was commenting on.
"
How can we claim freedom of expression and the plurality of speech at will when it comes to legitimizing certain presenters whose remarks have nevertheless won criminal convictions and inflict such a sanction on a historical journalist of the sports department
”for having supported a colleague ?, asks the union.
This questioning targets the polemicist Eric Zemmour, pillar of CNews, convicted of inciting racial hatred at the end of September and currently being prosecuted for contesting a crime against humanity after having maintained on the air that Marshal Pétain had "
saved
" French Jews .
Pointing to "
the governance problems
" of the Canal + group, the union says it fears "
other departures just as destructive of value and seriously damaging the image of the channel
".
"
It is high time that our management protects our group and its employees and decides to act for the common good and not the ideological or political interests of its shareholder
", he urges.
