She slammed the door of Europe 1 this Friday, after her column was amputated of a valve on Eric Zemmour ... The same day when a strike was called in the station to denounce an "authoritarian management" in a context of merger with CNews, Vincent Bolloré's news channel, where Zemmour works.
Christine Berrou, who officiated every weekend in the morning show presented by Pierre de Vilno and was co-author of Anne Roumanoff's show, explains the reasons for her departure.
Very moved, the 38-year-old comedian, also a columnist on Téva, is worried about the future of the station.
What was the content of the valve censored by your hierarchy?
CHRISTINE BERROU
.
It was a very harmless valve, completely harmless.
An excerpt from my show
Since 1982
, in which I imagine a dialogue between a teacher preparing for Father's Day and her students.
The children refuse to make an ashtray because “smoking kills”, noodle necklaces because “daddy is allergic to gluten”… And when the teacher says,
Okay then, we're going to draw some smiling men !,
a kid answers. "
no, my dad is
É
ric Zemmour
, he loves people happy ...
And we immediately warned you that this sentence could go wrong ...
Yes.
When I pronounced it in front of Pierre de Vilno, the latter told me
Be careful, there is a journalist who was summoned by the management last week because of a sharp launch on Eric Zemmour
.
He insisted, but at first I thought it was a joke and then I thought I couldn't do my job if I was censored.
So you recorded your column with this valve?
Yes, even if there again, a manager of my hierarchy strongly advised me to remove it.
It was on my way home that I received the message I posted on Twitter, which came from one of my bosses and said that it was "more reasonable" to withdraw the allusion to Zemmour.
And you answered that in this case, you resign ...
It was instinctive.
I answered in one go, as if to forbid myself to change my mind.
During my seven years at Europe 1, I have never been told anything when I hit politicians and there, we protect someone who says atrocious and conveys a nauseating philosophy.
It is he who is untouchable.
I'm sure if I had made this joke with Jean Castex or Emmanuel Macron, no one would have said anything to me ...
You haven't tried to talk to your management?
No, the damage was done.
Even if I had demanded to keep this column as it is, how could I have continued to write freely next week and the weeks after?
Another column that you recorded this Friday was broadcast this Saturday morning ...
Yes, I discovered it with horror.
Yesterday at 8 pm, however, I had sent a message to my director to specify that I no longer wanted to be on the air in a media that I do not endorse.
My director didn't even answer me: it's as if we no longer paid attention to us.
A bulldozer is passing over us.
It is extremely serious what is happening within the editorial staff.
Is it painful to leave Europe 1 under these conditions?
Of course. It upsets me, I'm stunned. It's a house that I love very much, there is a lot of affect. I leave the ship, but when I arrived on Europe 1 in 2014, it was the "love boat" of "La Croisière amuses". Since then, we have changed all the parts of the boat, the captain… And today, it's the Titanic. I wish my colleagues not to be forced to betray their values by the need to keep their jobs. I'm an unknown comedian, but I'm leaving out of solidarity with freedom of expression. What are they going to do now: hire comedians for their ability to keep quiet?
