Boyard-Hanoun clash: LFI MP files ‘public humiliation’ complaint

From words to deeds. LFI MP Louis Boyard filed a civil lawsuit “for public insult” in Paris this Wednesday against host Cyril Hanoun, accusing him of “insulting him on air for criticizing his channel owner” Vincent Bollor. In this complaint, Louis Boyard points to the crime of “publicly insulting an elected member of parliament by means of public relations”, punishable by a fine of 12,000 euros.

These are the five statements of Cyril Hanuna in the program “Touche pas à mon poste” on November 10: “You are a moron”; “You moron”; “Tokard is coming”; “The jester is coming”; “You’re a piece of shit.”

The complaint is directed against Cyril Hanoun as the main author and also against Maxim Saada, Chairman of the Board of Canal + Holding C8, for relaying the remarks on the channel’s website. According to the deputy’s complaint, “The terms used by Cyril Hanuna take on such an aggressive and outrageous character, in complete decorrelation and disproportion to the original debate, that they clearly cannot constitute mere pejorative or derogatory definitions subject to the free right of criticism. protected by freedom of speech.”

Insulting a deputy, “a direct insult to the nation”

She insists that these insults were directed, as an aggravating circumstance, at Louis Boyar as a deputy, and believes that these statements “led to a surge of hatred on social networks” and led to a “decrease in personality, but also in his function.” .

“Public insult due to a parliamentary mandate is a direct insult to the nation and the republic, which must be sanctioned by the court. It’s time to remind these restrictions to this type of media,” commented Me Arie Alimi, who defends Louis Boyard with Me Jade Dousselin.

Louis Boyard as well as Cyril Hanouna announced legal proceedings against the other after this November 10 broadcast. Live correspondence between Cyril Hanuna and Louis Boyard, former columnist for Touche Pas à mon poste (TPMP), degenerated when the latter accused France’s “five richest men” of “impoverishing Africa”, citing, in particular, Vincent Bolloret, Canal+ group owner and “friend of 20” Cyril Hanouna.

“You’re shit,” retorted the host of the hit show – with an average of 1.8 million viewers and peaks of more than 2 million – after calling the MP a “jerk”, a “jester” and a “dumbass”. The following Monday, Cyril Hanuna and his columnists attacked the young elected official again, and the presenter “regretted the offensive remarks” he might have made without apologizing.