Two finalists of the Miss France 2019 competition had TF1 and the production company Endemol condemned on Tuesday for the live broadcast, during the ceremony, of their bare breasts, behind the scenes during a costume change, he said. we learned this Wednesday.
The two companies were ordered to pay 40,000 euros to each of the complainants, Manon Jean-Mistral and Carla Bonesso, respectively Miss Corsica and Miss Aquitaine. Compensation granted in particular for image rights, the right to respect for private life and moral damage, according to the judgments of the Lille judicial court. The magistrates held that the complainants were identifiable and that no authorization had been given concerning the filming of the intimacy of their bodies.
“The body of candidates is not a commodity”
According to their lawyers, Catherine Laforêt and Violaine de Filippis, also spokespersons for the Dare to Feminism association, a camera had been installed by the production company in the changing rooms “without their being informed”. “These court decisions are important insofar as they serve as a reminder that the body of candidates, and of women in general, is not a commodity at the disposal of production companies,” they noted in a press release.
“The images captured […] were broadcast live on December 15, 2018 on the TF1 television channel in front of nearly 8 million viewers, as well as on the channel’s digital media, notably on the MYTF1 digital platform”, underlined the lawyers. They added that these images “continue, even today, to circulate, particularly on pornographic sites”.
Contacted by AFP, the TF1 channel and the production company Endemol were unable to react in the middle of the afternoon.