A seven-digit sum. On Friday, the C8 channel was ordered by the Paris Court of Appeal to pay more than 5.15 million euros to Thierry Ardisson for the sudden stop of his program Hello Earthlings in mid-2019, AFP learned, confirming daily information The Parisian.
“It is not a triumph, it is the application of the law and it is the respect of morals in the business”, declared to AFP Me Jean Ennocchi, lawyer of the host. Asked by AFP, the channel of the Canal + group did not wish to comment on the decision.
Thierry Ardisson had launched his show Hello earthlings on Canal + in 2006 before migrating to C8 in 2016 and the show was stopped in 2019, after the host refused to provide his shows for half the price and to do “low cost TV”.
A first conviction in January 2020
In January 2020, the Canal + group channel was ordered by the Paris commercial court to pay 811,500 euros to Thierry Ardisson for “sudden termination of commercial relations”, the judges having then considered that the channel had given too short notice in deciding to stop the show on May 17, 2019, a month and a half before the end of the season. The host, who claimed 6.8 million euros, had decided to appeal this decision, dissatisfied with the amount of compensation obtained.
This time, the C8 channel will have to pay 3,800,476 euros to Ardis, its production company, and 2,293,657 euros to Teleparis, the service provider who filmed the shows and in which Thierry Ardisson holds half of the shares (49.94% shares). TéléParis will receive an additional 417,587 euros “as a result of the redundancies made following the sudden termination of business relations”, according to the decision that AFP was able to consult.
On the other hand, Thierry Ardisson and the two companies will have for their part to pay C8 of 50,000 euros “in compensation for the violation of the confidentiality clause. “