It's just a game. And yet, for some, there is no limit. "Koh-Lanta" is currently breaking records on TF 1, gathering up to 7 million viewers ten days ago and another 6.5 million followers this Friday evening. A passionate audience who likes to share their emotions on social networks. But among these aficionados, some do not hesitate to pour torrents of insults against the adventurers whose actions they disapprove of on the screen. Violent messages that go as far as death threats and rape.
At the heart of this unleashing of hatred: the elimination on Friday evening of Sam, a young high-performance candidate, victim of alliances against him at the time of the group's votes which must determine which of the adventurers leaves each week. A classic case in the headlines where the most deserving are not always those who stay the longest. And yet, leaving the Alsatian ulcerated some.
So much so that, this Monday evening, the production company ALP announced that it would seize the public prosecutor of Paris, indicating in a press release: "These facts are punishable by three years of imprisonment and 45,000 € fine. An investigation should be launched to identify the perpetrators and initiate proceedings. Koh-Lanta is a family program and it is intolerable that its competitors have to deal with such a spill of hate. ALP will be vigilant to respect everyone and will take legal action whenever necessary. "
"Threatening to rape me ... It's going too far!" "
Among the candidates attacked for having voted against Sam, there are Régis, Charlotte, Alexandra or Inès. The latter, a 25-year-old nurse mobilized in the fight against the Covid-19, spoke, in tears, this weekend, on her Instagram account, to denounce this untenable situation, created by anonymous internet users beyond her reach. .
"The nerves let go because I can't defend myself, you're not in front of me, it's going so far [...] To threaten to rape me ... It's going too far!" I went to make a game and you get to have such a nasty mentality ... It's amazing. People who say they will come to my house, I don't understand. To wish someone death, to wish rape, these are words that are overwhelming. I will never allow myself to say that… ”
Denis Brogniart had already denounced the attitude of these attackers on the networks several times during the live interviews he conducts on Instagram daily at 6 p.m. since the start of the confinement. Ahmad, strategist of the edition currently in circulation, which mixes new faces and historical heroes of the program, had suffered death threats from the first broadcasts.
Denis Brogniart between "disgust" and "anger"
This weekend, the boundaries were once again exceeded and the host again spoke to say stop. As a preamble to his discussion with Candice and Jérémy, both adventurers in the editions broadcast in 2016 and 2018, Sunday evening, Denis Brogniart had read a text: "I would like to tell you my disgust, my dismay, my anger too, before the messages scandalous haters received by certain adventurers […]. What world do we live in? How can we threaten death, insult, promise the worst to adventurers from Koh-Lanta? What do we blame them in the end? To play their game? "
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Insults, threats of all kinds, scandalous and insulting remarks towards certain #kohlanta adventurers are enough. I am with you @ineskohlanta @ alexandra_kohlanta20 @ charlotte.sourcekl @regis_koh_lanta_ and @ahmadkohlanta I am disgusted to see so much hatred conveyed by a minority of irresponsible people.
A post shared by Brogniart (@denisbrogniart_off) on Apr 27, 2020 at 3:40 am PDT
By taking care to emphasize that these messages come from a tiny minority of “embittered, jealous”, by calling for “restraint, measure and discernment”, the host reiterates his support for the candidate victims that others have made the costs of the same kind of insults over the past seasons.
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And to challenge the leaders of social networks: "How could we put in place a procedure to intercept and put out of harm's way the most abject?" The ball is in your camp. This Monday evening, before receiving Jade, winner in 2007 and finalist in 2009, Denis Brogniart again broached the subject by reading the press release from ALP.
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SAM reacts to the unspeakable attacks made against some #kohlanta adventurers! @alp_en @ tf1
A post shared by Brogniart (@denisbrogniart_off) on Apr 27, 2020 at 7:36 am PDT
Shortly before, it was Sam himself, however usually absent from social networks, who expressed himself in a video message to call for calm: "When I did Koh-Lanta, I accepted all rules of the game […] I always wanted justice and today justice is to accept the decision of my adventure comrades, just like I did […] Let them live their adventure in peace. "