The Minister of Culture Rachida Dati spoke from the National Assembly about the suspension by Radio France of the comedian Guillaume Meurice. “Radio France could not not react,” she says.
This Tuesday, May 7, the Minister of Culture Rachida Dati was questioned by the rebellious deputy David Guiraud about the situation of Guillaume Meurice, comedian suspended by Radio France after having reiterated controversial remarks about the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. In the National Assembly, Rachida Dati responded unambiguously.
“In our country, a repeat offender convicted of provoking racial hatred can walk the TV sets but a comedian who makes a joke approved by the court is dismissed from our public service” first launched the elected LFI. “You are right to ask this question, it may raise questions about freedom of expression,” the Minister of Culture initially responded. However, “Radio France had no other choice than to summon” Guillaume Maurice.
She continues: “In October 2023, Arcom had warned (…) despite this, Guillaume Meurice redid his column identically and therefore required once again either a report – therefore a referral to the Arcom – or even a sanction from Arcom.” The latter also said she was “deeply attached, for several reasons” to press freedom. She claims to be “uncompromising on freedom of expression, even when this freedom of expression can sometimes harm one’s honor.”
As a reminder, Guillaume Meurice had produced a sketch a few days before Halloween, October 29, 2023, and suggested an idea for a “scary disguise”. A “Netanyahu disguise”, “a kind of Nazi but without a foreskin”. On Thursday, May 2, the comedian was suspended from the air for “serious misconduct” after once again making his controversial comments about the Israeli Prime Minister. Its first outing had earned France Info a warning, sent by Arcom. This Tuesday, Rachida Dati called for avoiding “confusion between a court decision which closed a complaint and an Arcom decision”. Here, “Radio France could not not react” according to the minister.
