“We were a little surprised that she accepted, like everyone else,” reveals Jean-Christophe Florentin, the editor-in-chief of Playboy To 20 minutes. If there is a meeting that no one expected, it is the one that will bring together Marlène Schiappa and the emblematic rabbit on the cover of the magazine known for its photos of naked models this Thursday, April 6 in many kiosks.
After a meeting with the Secretary of State for the Social and Solidarity Economy and Associative Life in mid-March, a long twelve-page interview illustrated by four unpublished photos will appear in the next issue of the magazine.
We are at the beginning of January when the idea of proposing a meeting with the member of the government germinates in the head of the journalist. He sees her request as “a bottle in the sea”, launched without much hope that she will return one day. “Luckily, she was picked,” he rejoices even more than three months later. If he thought he had seen in Marlène Schiappa “the most Playboy compatible ministers and political staff. “She is courageous, she has a voice that carries, she has feminist convictions and she is pretty! He never imagined that this idea would bring the magazine an unprecedented spotlight.
“Some poses were refused”
“I phoned his communications team and then sent an email. I received a quick response that said to me: “Why not in principle, we have to refine.” We refined and then we arrived at the result which will be released on Thursday, ”rewinds Jean-Christophe Florentin, making sure to keep as much suspense as possible so that this interview boosts sales of Playboy.
Fruit of the “enthusiasm” of Marlène Schiappa and close consultation between her teams and those of a magazine, the meeting took place in mid-March, in a Parisian photography studio. If the Secretary of State did not ask for a prior right of inspection on the questions or on the interview a posteriori, she is more intrigued by the photographic aspect. It must be said that the magazine is known for its naked photos generally published on its cover.
“She wanted to see the outfits she would wear,” explains the editor-in-chief. We made what we call a “moodboard” to define an atmosphere and poses. Some were refused, others accepted. »
A meeting “postponed twice”
The meetings follow one another and Jean-Christophe Florentin first meets the communication adviser of the one who has been part of the government since Emmanuel Macron’s first term in 2017. “The photo session was then postponed twice for security reasons. schedule,” he says. Marlène Schiappa’s schedule finally allows her to make this meeting a reality in the middle of March.
More than an interview, the journalist evokes a “broken discussion”. “She has not vetoed any theme, has not evaded any question. We talk about everything with her… Feminism, power, seduction. She even managed to make me blush talking about sex, ”he laughs. For her part, the Secretary of State never seemed to feel the slightest embarrassment, if we are to believe her interlocutor.
The editor-in-chief specifies that this interview is addressed to the readers of Playboyboth men and women, while specifying that Playboy no longer wants to be a 100% men’s magazine. “It’s become a bit of an intellectual mook. That’s how some call us, he insists. We also have readers! »
“Calendar coincidence”
In the greatest secrecy, the magazine’s teams are refining the text and photos with the horizon of the beginning of April. “I was waiting to have something to say that made sense in relation to the release date of the magazine without going about it too early to reveal this interview,” says Jean-Christophe Florentin.
Except that Le Parisien already has the information. When contacted to talk about it on Friday March 31, the journalist preferred not to react. “We were supposed to start communicating on Tuesday, it was too early,” he rewinds. This leak, seen by some as an early April Fool’s Day hoax, plunges Playboy in a media whirlwind that “no one expected”. “We suspected that it would generate reactions, but I did not think it would take on such a magnitude. We imagined maybe 10% of what is happening right now, ”he laughs.
All weekend, he attends “a little affair of state”. While who has not yet spoken publicly about his meeting with Marlène Schiappa, journalists and politicians comment on the initiative of the Secretary of State, whose publication comes just after the interview with Emmanuel Macron in Pip Gadget. “I was not at all aware that the interview would fall right after that of Pip Gadget “, insists Jean-Christophe Florentin, defending himself from participating in any government communication plan. “We can remain naive and think that it is a coincidence of the calendar. »
Élisabeth Borne, “best press officer of Playboy »
A coincidence that obviously did not please Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. She would have spoken with Marlène Schiappa the day after the revelation of this interview, telling her that she was “not at all appropriate, all the more so in the current period”. Beyond the lively debate around the reform of the retirement age, the former Minister Delegate for Citizenship is suspected of “the questionable use of subsidies” and “the absence of control” of the fund against separatism, which it created following the assassination of Samuel Paty, in 2020. However, the editor-in-chief of Playboy believes that “Élisabeth Borne was the best press officer in the magazine”.
To silence her critics, Marlène Schiappa defended herself on Twitter, recalling that “in France, women are free. With all due respect to the backsliders and the hypocrites”.
Faced with criticism, the editorial staff of Playboy pleads ignorance of his change of line, three years earlier. “I think nine-tenths of those who exercise criticism remained glued to the image that the magazine could have. It has completely changed, we can only invite them to go and see what they are talking about and there they would shut their face. It pains me because we are better than that but we have to let it be known. It’s long ! However, the last two issues of 2022 still featured a naked young woman on the cover, “a question of DNA”, according to the editor-in-chief.
While waiting for the publication of the new issue of the magazine, the editor’s pilot padlocks what concerns the content, as a good promoter of his editorial staff. As for the guest for his next interview… “I don’t know yet… Maybe Élisabeth Borne, laughs. We haven’t initiated the contact yet but who goes piano goes sano! »