“It’s a day of deep sadness” reacted to AFP Stéphane Guy, flagship voice of French football, after 23 years with the encrypted channel, which confirmed his dismissal, without further comment.
“It’s a sad day for Canal + after a difficult year,” added a union source, denouncing a decision “catastrophic for the image of the group”, whose parent company Vivendi is controlled by Vincent Bolloré.
Stéphane Guy’s fault? To have given his support to the comedian Sébastien Thoen, columnist of the “Canal Football Club”, recently expelled for having participated in a sketch parodying the program of Pascal Praud on CNews “The hour of the pros”.
Before a match he commented on two weeks ago, Stéphane Guy had paid tribute to his “friend” who, according to him, had not had “the exit he would have deserved”.
Here is what Stéphane Guy said live:
Laid off in the wake, he had been summoned to a preliminary interview a week ago and was awaiting a possible sanction within 30 days.
The ax fell in the middle of the holiday season, causing amazement on social networks, where testimonies of support were flowing.
“Climate of terror”
“We journalists from the sports department of Canal + and / or the editorial staff of the Canal + group, we are outraged by this arbitrary eviction,” writes the Society of Journalists (SDJ) of Canal + on its Twitter account. “Nothing can justify these repeated attacks on freedom of expression when this falls within the limits provided by the law”.
“We claim, once again, the right for any employee of the group to exercise their profession without fear of being dismissed, dismissed, worried, if what they say or write displeases our management,” adds the SDJ.
“We will stay there for this day” because of “the timing of the holidays and with a view to wider and more effective communication,” she concludes.
“Total incomprehension. To be fired for that after 23 years in the house, it’s terrible, ”tweeted journalist Estelle Denis.
“We’ve never been friends. Not even close. These words of support for Stéphane are therefore free, sincere, frightened. And to be honest, dismayed ”, reacted Nathalie Iannetta, sports consultant for TF1.
“Licensed to install a climate of terror in the company,” said LCI columnist Jean-Michel Aphatie. “The transgressive and anti + politically correct + Eric Zemmour (pillar of the CNews channel) and Pascal Praud will surely show solidarity with Stéphane Guy, an unjust victim of violent capitalism”, he quipped.
Montpellier HSC player Andy Delort also gave him his “support”, wondering if he was risking “something”.
“The management and the shareholder are against the freedom of the press in the group”, lamented the union source contacted by AFP, evoking a desire to “bring back the pace” of the “sports editorial staff” after that of I-Télé, which became CNews in 2017.
Energetic, sometimes considered excessive, Stéphane Guy commented with passion on the biggest posters of the English championship in the 2000s, then those of the French championship and the Champions League, giving nicknames to players, such as “the infernal Wayne Rooney” or “The French genius Kylian Mbappé”.
He is also known to start the meetings of a traditional “citizens, citizens, good evening”.
Pascal Prono
The sketch at the origin of this whole affair had been broadcast on the sports betting site Winamax. We saw Sébastien Thoen (also host of “Journal du hard”), alongside his former comrades from “Discrete Action” (another Canal + program), Julien Cazarre and Thomas Séraphine.
The parody mocked in particular the presenter of CNews Pascal Praud, renamed “Pascal Prono”, by mixing football considerations and popular subjects of the channel, such as immigration and jihadism.
The dismissal of Sébastien Thoen had aroused the indignation of many internal journalists.
The director of the antennas and programs of Canal +, Gérald-Brice Viret, had justified this dismissal by explaining that the columnist had displayed himself with a person who “constantly denigrates” the teams of the channel and had “legitimized” his remarks, a allusion to the comedian Julien Cazarre.
Thursday, Gérald-Brice Viret wished on Twitter a “Merry Christmas” from “the part of the whole Canal + family”, with a “special thought to all our teams mobilized during the holidays”.
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