internal investigations at Canal + and RMC Sport

Canal + and RMC Sport have launched internal investigations, both linked to the broadcast of the documentary by journalist Marie Portolano which revealed cases of sexism and sexual assault in several newsrooms, AFP learned on Friday, confirming information from The team. “The human resources department was asked to carry out an in-depth analysis of the situation in accordance with our internal procedures”, indicated the Canal + group, whose home sports columnist Pierre Ménès is pointed out by his sisters in two cases of sexual assault.

A report to RMC Sport after the documentary aired

This announcement comes after several days of controversy, the encrypted channel being accused since Monday of having protected the columnist by censoring extracts from the documentary that incriminated him. Pierre Ménès, on the other hand, was excluded Thursday from the famous Fifa football simulation game of which he was one of the star commentators. For its part, RMC Sport has decided to open an internal investigation, following a report made after the broadcast of the same documentary, internal sources indicated. Contacted, the sports media did not comment.

The broadcast of the film entitled “I am not a slut, I am a journalist” coupled with the publication on Sunday of a column of the collective “Women sports journalists” denouncing in particular “the inferiorization of women” in the editorial staff caused an electric shock in the field of sports journalism. In addition, the bouquet of sports channels BeIN Sports assured that the resignation of its star presenter Alexandre Ruiz, announced Monday but decided several weeks earlier, had no connection with the broadcast of the documentary.

According to an article by Médiapart, published Thursday, the Franco-Spanish journalist “had recently been sanctioned by the management of the channel, after an internal investigation and several reports” from other members of the editorial staff. Refusing to comment, Alexandre Ruiz replied that “the file was in the hands of (his) lawyer”.