Gérard Darmon does not like Mediapart, and he makes it known.
Twice, the actor took advantage of his appearances on the air first of France 2, then of CNews, to denigrate the work of Edwy Plenel and his teams.
“Edwy Plenel is a man who trembles when he speaks, it's something quite disturbing.
I have the impression of hearing this discourse for four centuries (…) You know everything and nothing else!
“, said the actor, guest of “We are live”, Saturday evening.
According to Gérard Darmon, Mediapart's investigation methods "are not effective, there is something tartuffe in your speech", he insisted.
“He is a bogeyman of politics and even of human relations.
(…) What are you alerting us to?
“, he quipped, denigrating the scope of certain information, such as the latest revelations from the newspaper on Jean-Michel Blanquer’s vacation in Ibiza.
"Mr. Blanquer's vacation in Ibiza, is it very important?
“, also questioned the presenter Laurent Ruquier, smiling.
“Edwy Plenel is a man who trembles when he speaks, it's something quite disturbing.
I have the impression of hearing this discourse for four centuries (…) You know everything and nothing else!
»
Gérard Darmon challenges @edwyplenel in #OEED ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/d6T22LdVgX
– We Are Live (@OnEstEnDirectF2) February 6, 2022
Faced with these attacks, the journalist, "accustomed", in his words, to criticism, denounced "a caricature, a prejudice", against him.
It was then on social networks that the boss of Mediapart and the editorial journalists reacted to the exit of the French actor.
“This personal attack was actually aimed at journalism, at least that which investigates, researches and reveals in the service of the public interest.
Illustration of what #MediaCrash the @Mediapart film denounces: the advent of a world where information is stifled under opinions, ”wrote Edwy Plenel on Twitter.
This personal attack was actually aimed at journalism, at least that which investigates, researches and reveals in the service of the public interest.
Illustration of what #MediaCrash the @Mediapart film denounces: the advent of a world where information is stifled under opinions https://t.co/Xc4BxdLQqI
— Edwy Plenel (@edwyplenel) February 6, 2022
“Being a journalist, looking for information and making phone calls to verify it?
It's daring all the same, we understand Darmon's indignation, ”laughs Ellen Salvi, journalist at the editorial office.
Being a journalist, looking for information and making phone calls to verify it?
It's daring all the same, we understand Darmon's indignation.
— Ellen Salvi (@ellensalvi) February 6, 2022
Far from making his mea culpa, Gérard Darmon reiterated his remarks on Monday on CNews.
“I tried to speak with him saying that I am a little disappointed as I am disappointed with socialism, I am disappointed with Mediapart.
Above all, I like that we flush out files, that we talk about things that nobody talks about, what you do from time to time on your set.
(…) I don't like the way Mediapart rummages in the garbage cans”, he repeated in front of Pascal Praud in the program “L’Heure des pros”.
"Eric Dupond-Moretti is my friend"
Why so much hate?
Several journalists have sketched part of the answer: the friendship between Gérard Darmon and the Minister of Justice, Éric Dupond-Moretti.
“Éric Dupond-Moretti is my friend (…).
And I know that Mediapart tried to cut off his head, ”conceded Gérard Darmon on CNews.
A relationship that was recently illustrated in the TF1 program "La Chansonsecret", during which the minister's companion, Isabelle Boulay, sang a song especially for the actor. Absent, Éric Dupond-Moretti had wanted to send a message to Gérard Darmon: "Good evening Gérard, obviously I regret not being able to be with you but you know that for a few months I have held new positions (keeper of the Seals, editor's note ). Hey, by the way, you have to come to this office very quickly because we said we'd do something pretty good together. We are going to bring a little culture to the prisons and you know like me of course that when culture advances, violence recedes, ”he said in this video.
The Minister of Justice is regularly singled out by Mediapart.
Latest revelations to date, an article published on Monday according to which Éric Dupond-Moretti would have received when he was a lawyer 100,000 euros in fees from a company in the Seychelles which he never advised to acquire a Maserati convertible, partly paid in cash.