Does the Renaissance MP have double standards when it comes to judging the passage in the parliamentary committee of Cyril Hanouna and Yann Barthès? In any case, this is what many political figures accuse him of today. Passionate about audiovisual and wise-looking, Quentin Bataillon is not an amateur: he was an advisor to Franck Riester, then Minister of Culture, before being elected deputy in 2022. He is a regular interlocutor of Rachida Dati, of whom he was a neighbor when she was an MEP and he was an assistant to the right-wing elected official Françoise Grossetête. A journey which reflects a strong political experience and raises the question of the motivations which pushed him to express himself in TPMPa program questioned on several occasions by Arcom.
What are the facts with which Quentin Bataillon is accused?
In question, around thirty minutes of interview with the deputy for the Loire in the show Do not touch My TV on C8, while the commission’s work will only end at the beginning of May.
The deputy Quentin Bataillon, president of the commission of inquiry into TNT frequencies, took stock of his work on Tuesday on the C8 channel, on the set of Cyril Hanouna, who was himself interviewed by this commission.
In Do not touch My TVthe 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 At the beginning, he refused to answer our questions,” said Quentin Bataillon about the presenter of Dailyon TMC.
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 .
What are the criticisms leveled at him?
The strongest condemnations come from the left even if voices from its camp have also been raised. While awaiting the conclusions of the commission, we must “show reserve and discernment” in public “positions”, lectured the President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet.
According to the entourage of Sylvain Maillard, president of the Renaissance group in the National Assembly, the latter called Quentin Bataillon on Tuesday evening “to reproach him for the comments he made”. “It’s an error of judgment,” said an executive advisor. “The president of the TNT commission of inquiry covers Hanouna, despite being widely sanctioned by Arcom,” said Manuel Bompard, coordinator of La France insoumise, whose deputies are at the origin of this commission. “Macronism is sinking into collusion with Bolloré”, a conservative billionaire who controls the Canal+ group including C8, judges Manuel Bompard. “Quentin Bataillon is disqualified, he can no longer chair this commission,” he insists.
It is “a real scandal” for the mayor of Paris (PS), Anne Hidalgo, who also called for the resignation of Quentin Bataillon. The environmentalist deputy, Sophie Taillé-Polian, announced that she had contacted the ethics officer of the National Assembly, requesting “the dismissal” of Quentin Bataillon. The TF1 group, owner of TMC, for its part said it was “surprised both in form and substance by the media declarations” of Quentin Bataillon, even though the commission’s report “has not yet been delivered” .
Why did you go to the set of the controversial host Cyril Hanouna?
Through this flagship early evening show, Quentin Bataillon addressed a certain popular electorate: “Sometimes, the contempt that some may have for your show is transferred to those who watch it”. “It’s going very badly, many deputies are wondering what happened to him,” people around Mr. Maillard admitted.
According to a close friend of Quentin Bataillon, the latter “feels released from his duties of neutrality” because Aurélien Saintoul, the rapporteur of the commission of inquiry, “gave up at the first second of the first minute of the first hour of the commission any position of neutrality. For the Insoumis Aurélien Saintoul, this “denigrating maneuver (…) constitutes a fault”. Relations between him and the president became strained over the course of the hearings, from that of Vincent Bolloré to that of the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati.