Arcom has decided. France Inter received a warning for comments made by Guillaume Meurice on October 29 in the program “Le Grand Dimanche Soir”, describing the Israeli Prime Minister as “a kind of Nazi, but without a foreskin”. The regulator was contacted about this matter by Laurent Lafon, the president of the Culture and Education Commission of the Senate.
“While reaffirming the importance of protecting the freedom of expression of comedians”, the body considered “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, has undermined the proper exercise by Radio France of its missions and the relationship of trust that it must maintain with all of its listeners.
The regulator therefore issues a warning to the publishing company. And she calls on him to “the greatest vigilance with regard to the particularly sensitive situation linked to the conflict in the Middle East”.
“Arcom’s decision regarding Guillaume Meurice is consistent with that of Sibyle Veil, the president of Radio France. It is a warning and it encourages caution for the future,” indicates a source close to the matter. Next Sunday, the comedian will be back on France Inter in “Le Grand Dimanche Soir”, with Charline Vanhoenacker. This time, the show will be filmed under normal conditions, in public.
In recent weeks, the college has been contacted about several contested sequences. There would be around twenty in total. Among these, in addition to the column by Guillaume Meurice denounced as anti-Semitic, the statements on BFMTV by Caroline Fourest, the editorial director of the magazine Franc-Tireur, accused of relativizing the deaths of Palestinian children.
Arcom considered that his “remarks do not encourage discriminatory behavior and do not incite hatred”. The body also noted that, “several minutes before the contentious remarks were made, the guest had insisted at length on the need to preserve the civilian population of Gaza, and in particular its children”. Arcom therefore did not sanction BFMTV.
The regulator was also contacted for statements by columnist Pascal Perri referring to “couscous anti-Semitism” on LCI, for which he apologized on X (formerly Twitter). Or even lawyer Arno Klarsfeld on CNews, equating many Muslims with potential terrorists.
