“This press release is intended to provide a factual response to the situation in the form of a question and answer”. Accused for several weeks on social networks of being infested with bed bugs, the UGC Ciné-Cité cinema in Bercy, in the 12th arrondissement, is coming out of silence. The establishment, which kept its doors open without warning its spectators of a possible health concern, neither confirms nor denies the accusations. The cinema admits, however, that it has “initiated the emergency procedure” linked to reports of bedbugs.
In two pages of questions and answers, the cinema defends itself for having been against the rules of hygiene. And sometimes kicks in touch. To the question “Are there still bedbugs in the UGC Bercy cinema?”, the establishment offers a terse response. “The cinema was treated in accordance with the emergency procedure.” Before promising that if new customer reports are reported to management, then the rooms of Bercy will be treated again.
The Parisian cinema denies any failure. “The scourge of bed bugs affects all places open to the public as well as private homes in France.” Before giving some figures from the National Health Security Agency on the annual cost of treatment against pests (230 million euros). And to conclude that “UGC cinemas are therefore exposed to this risk, like all places open to the public in France.”
What about spectators who have been bitten by insects? The cinema says it is “sincerely sorry”, while recalling that it is “very complex to establish the origin of a bedbug bite”, since “all places open to the public are concerned”. No possibility of compensation is mentioned. In a final part, the cinema explains that it chose to speak on Monday for reasons of “transparency”.
In Parisian establishments, however, the proliferation of bed bugs seems to be limited to a few establishments. On social networks (mainly X, ex-Twitter), Internet users accuse four cinemas: UGC Les Halles, UGC Bercy, MK2 Bibliothèque and MK2 Beaubourg.
Moviegoers criticize establishments for allowing pests to proliferate without warning the public, or closing cinemas while the pests are being dealt with.
For the past few weeks, the rumor has continued to swell on the networks before being widely relayed by the press, including Le Figaro . A disastrous advertisement for the establishments, and especially the UGC Bercy, which waited to be in “top tweet” on X to react publicly to controversy.