'Discrimination': Canal+ sued over response to 'Zapper Bolloré' collective

Published on 23/05/2026 - 12:32 GMT+2•Updated 12:37

A move that is going down badly. The Human Rights League (LDH) and the CGT Spectacle union announced on Saturday that they were bringing a civil action before the Nanterre judicial court against Canal+. The two organisations denounce what they describe as a "discrimination" targeting the signatories of an anti-Bolloré open letter, after the group decided to stop working with them.

"Canal+ will have to answer in court for breaking the law", state CGT Spectacle and the LDH in a statement entitled "No discrimination has any place in cinema".

In the text, seen by Euronews, they refer to the "unacceptable and brutal decision" by Maxime Saada, chairman of the Canal+ management board, accused of "discriminating on the grounds of political and trade union expression in order to muzzle the voices within the profession that are speaking out against Vincent Bolloré’s growing grip on the entire chain of production and distribution in cinema".

"If some people go so far as to describe Canal+ as 'crypto-fascist', then I cannot accept working with them", the head of Canal+, a major player in the financing of French cinema and part of conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré’s empire, said last Sunday.

For the LDH and CGT Spectacle, this is not a "knee-jerk reaction" by Maxime Saada to the criticism from some 600 signatories of the op-ed. He "is fully aware of the group’s central role in funding films in France and of the dependence of the various players in the sector", the statement continues.

The civil action, led by lawyer Arié Alimi, has two objectives: to secure the annulment, "backed by a penalty payment", of Maxime Saada’s decision, and the appointment of a representative responsible for identifying any discrimination within the Canal+ group.

Contacted by Euronews, LDH president Nathalie Tehio explains that this would be a mission of "monitoring", which could be entrusted to an employee of the group or to an external party: "It is up to the court to decide", she says.

Action before the European Commission is also being considered, in order to sanction what they describe as an "abuse of economic dependence" by Canal+, which the organisations see as part of a broader movement to concentrate the cultural industries around Vincent Bolloré.

The Breton billionaire controls a vast media and cultural industries group, which includes television and radio channels, publishing houses, as well as production and distribution activities in the audiovisual and film sectors.

International figures, including Javier Bardem and Ken Loach, have joined the mobilisation organised by the "Zapper Bolloré" collective.

According to Nathalie Tehio, it is no accident that the announcement by the LDH and CGT comes just hours before the Palme d’Or is awarded, since Canal+ issued its response during the Cannes Film Festival.

"This is a threat to the profession as a whole", she concludes.