A TV set that was unexpected to say the least. The Renaissance deputy Quentin Bataillon, president of the commission of inquiry into TNT frequencies, took stock of his work Tuesday on the C8 channel Tuesday April 2 on the Cyril Hanouna set, while he was interviewed by this same commission.
In “Touche pas à mon poste”, the elected representative of the presidential majority scratched a host competing with Cyril Hanouna, Yann Barthès, who was also heard: “I think it’s the first time that I got angry , he had a fairly arrogant attitude from the start, he refused to answer our questions,” said Quentin Bataillon about the presenter of Quotidien, on TMC.
“We don’t go into homes to say what is good and what is bad”
The deputy did educational work on the work of his commission, which was initiated by LFI deputies in the fall to shed light on the allocation of DTT frequencies, including those of C8 and CNews brought into play this year .
Its rapporteur, the Insoumis Aurélien Saintoul, will write his report “alone” by the beginning of May, and “I imagine that it will be marked”, said the elected official, wishing to “get away from the witch hunt, of the hunt for presenters, journalists, channels.” “We need to make recommendations on the framework” for the choice of frequency holders, he said. “We don’t go into people’s homes to tell them what is good, what is bad” and, “sometimes, the contempt that some people may have for your show is transferred to those who watch it,” argued the parliamentarian .
Tensions with the Insoumis rapporteur
With Aurélien Saintoul, “I did everything to keep the relations as cordial as possible”, he added, while relations became strained over the course of the hearings, that of Vincent Bolloré, billionaire who controls the group Canal + including C8, to that of the Minister of Culture Rachida Dati.
Aurélien Saintoul reacted on » He refers to an episode from November 2022 where LFI deputy Louis Boyard, guest on the show, was insulted live. This resulted in a record fine of 3.5 million euros for C8.
Numerous reactions from the opposition
Several deputies criticized the intervention of Quentin Bataillon at Cyril Hanouna. For Alexis Corbière (LFI), “no one can believe in their independence and objectivity anymore”.
“Here’s another one who is damaging Parliament and getting tired of destroying democracy,” according to ecologist Benjamin Lucas, also on X. Olivier Faure, for his part, attacked Quentin Bataillon on his own arrogance of “going to Hanouna to spit on Barthès while chairing a commission of inquiry on TNT”.
According to the media Politico, the MP was called to order by the leader of his own party following this televised intervention. For her part, the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo told Franceinfo that she was calling for the resignation “without delay” of Quentin Bataillon, describing his interview as a “real scandal”. Manuel Bompard (LFI) also calls for his resignation.