“For reasons beyond my control, I will not participate in the next two “Le Grand Dimanche Soir” broadcasts on France Inter.” In a tweet published Thursday, May 2 on his X account (ex-twitter), Guillaume Meurice announced that he was suspended from Radio France.
The comedian is awaiting a possible sanction which could go as far as dismissal. Although he did not give more details on the reason for his summons, it nevertheless occurs in a particular context. Last Sunday, at the microphone of France Inter, Guillaume Meurice reiterated his controversial remarks made at the end of October about Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister.
“There are things we can say. For example, if I say “Netanyahu is kind of a Nazi but without a foreskin,” that’s fine. The prosecutor said “it’s good”,” launched the columnist, in reference to the recent dismissal of a complaint against him accusing him of anti-Semitism.
On October 29, 2023, the France Inter comedian sparked a lively controversy by describing the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as “a kind of Nazi without a foreskin”, in a column during the show Le Grand Dimanche evening. A comparison which sparked an outcry on social networks. At the same time, Guillaume Meurice was also interviewed by the Paris judicial police after a complaint for incitement to hatred was filed by the OJE, the European Jewish Organization.
This Thursday, the host received an invitation to a preliminary interview and learned of his layoff, as a precautionary measure, until this interview takes place, which should take place around mid-May, according to our information. This suspension of the antenna will not affect his remuneration.
When questioned, the management of Radio France confirmed the layoff, but refused to comment. She probably didn’t take kindly to Guillaume Meurice’s new release. The latter had already received a warning this fall. A disciplinary sanction that he announced he wanted to challenge in court.
At the same time, Arcom, the audiovisual regulator, was seized of the matter. He considered at the time “that the column in question, whose risks of repercussions on the cohesion of our society could not be ignored, particularly in a context marked by the resurgence of acts of an anti-Semitic nature”, had damaged the good exercise, by Radio France, “of its missions and the relationship of trust that it must maintain with all of its listeners”. Consequence: Arcom issued a warning against France Inter, the publishing company.
Guillaume Meurice knowingly persisted. “The first time, he probably did not anticipate the controversy or the repercussions that his column would generate. Six months later, he can hardly ignore them. He knows that he will create antagonism and polarization, analyzes a good expert in the media industry. In a way, he is intentionally harming his employer Radio France, who has already been called to order because of him. This is not neutral, while public broadcasting is regularly criticized,” continues the expert.
A Radio France executive, for his part, is annoyed by the situation. “In a societal context which remains very flammable, just look at the situation at Science Po, public services must be careful not to add more fuel to the fire,” he believes. Guillaume Meurice, who invokes freedom of expression, clearly does not agree with him.