JEAN-JACQUES BOURDIN. While BFMTV had so far kept Jean-Jacques Bourdin on the air, the management of the channel indicated, this Sunday, January 23, to “temporarily” suspend the journalist accused of attempted sexual assault from the air.
[Mis à jour le 23 janvier 2022 à 16h19] After being removed “temporarily” from the antenna by the BFMTV / RMC group, Jean-Jacques Bourdin reacted this Sunday. “I regret the unilateral decision of the BFMTV and RMC group to withdraw me from the airwaves to prevent the risk of instrumentalization of the complaint of which I am the subject,” said the journalist in a press release sent to AFP on Sunday by his lawyer. , deploring “that the principle of the presumption of innocence is ignored”.
Accused of attempted sexual assault by a former colleague, Jean-Jacques Bourdin was “temporarily” deprived of the air by the management of BFMTV / RMC, this Sunday. Without any new information having been communicated, the decision was taken “so as not to prejudice the daily operation of BFMTV and RMC”, management said in a statement on Sunday. “Jean-Jacques Bourdin vigorously contests the facts denounced and benefits from the presumption of innocence”, affirmed the group before adding that an internal investigation “has been opened to ensure that no fact of this type has been brought to the attention of the company’s employees and managers”.
While an investigation was opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office, Bourdin continued to appear on BFM TV, inaugurating the political program France in the eyes Tuesday, January 18, 2022. On the occasion of the first issue of his show, the journalist had once again denied all accusations: “I have decided not to speak on this subject, but I dispute the facts reported by the press and let justice do its job”. Marc-Olivier Fogiel, general manager of BFM TV, had for his part affirmed that “at this stage, nothing leads us to modify things on the air. We must not give in to any pressure. There is nothing that prevents him from doing his job.” Today deprived of antenna, Jean-Jacques Bourdin will be replaced by two journalists of the group. “During this temporary withdrawal, the political interview at 8:30 am, on BFMTV / RMC, will be provided by Apolline de Malherbe from Monday January 24, 2022. France in Les Yeux, on BFMTV, will be hosted by Bruce Toussaint”, said the Altice group.
Jean-Jacques Bourdin is accused of attempted sexual assault by a former colleague from BFM TV and RMC. According to The Parisian, the complainant claims that the 72-year-old journalist “grabbed her by the neck and tried to kiss her several times” while she was in a swimming pool during a trip to Corsica in 2013. At the time of the events, she was 25 years old. The BFM journalist and RMC would then have sent her for several months insistent emails and SMS, which the complainant would have kept. The journalist filed a complaint against Bourdin. This Tuesday, January 18, 2022, the Paris prosecutor’s office announced that it was opening an investigation against the journalist and analyzing the file.
Jean-Jacques Bourdin has firmly denied the accusations made against him. However, he confirmed having bathed with the journalist who accuses him during this trip on the sidelines of the second Calvi Petanque Open in 2013, but denies having tried to kiss her. However, the facts of which Jean-Jacques Bourdin is accused are probably prescribed, since for this type of charge, on an adult, the prescription is six years. According toe Parisian, two other women could testify against the journalist in the coming days.
The Altice Media group, which owns RMC and BFM-TV, announced on January 16, 2022 that it had also opened an internal investigation “to ensure that no facts of this type have been brought to the attention of managers or colleagues. interested parties.” Marc-Olivier Fogiel, general manager of BFM TV, for his part affirmed that “at this stage, nothing leads us to modify things on the air. We must not give in to any pressure. There is nothing that prevents him from doing his job.”
Valérie Pécresse was the first guest on the show France in the eyes on BFM TV this Tuesday, January 18, 2022 at 8:50 p.m. She answered questions from Jean-Jacques Bourdin, host of this new political meeting. According to information from Figaro, the candidate for the presidential election of 2022 had conditioned her visit to an introductory remark concerning the accusations of sexual assault against Jean-Jacques Bourdin. The chain had accepted this request. The Republican candidate had castigated “the law of silence” and indicated that “for speech to be freed, women must feel supported.”
Anne Nivat has been Jean-Jacques Bourdin’s companion for several years. She was questioned about the accusations against her husband in the program “L’Instant M” on France Inter on January 17, 2022: “How do you want me to react? Jean-Jacques and I talked a lot about all that .These are intimate discussions so I would not reveal their contents to anyone publicly to fuel the media buzz.” The wife of the RMC-BFM TV journalist refused to answer any further questions about him.
Jean-Jacques Bourdin absent from the antenna of RMC, the reason
Jean-Jacques Bourdin hosts RMC’s political interview every morning. This Tuesday, January 18, he was however absent. And that has nothing to do with the accusations against the journalist: he had to prepare the political programme, France in the eyes, with Valérie Pécresse this Tuesday at 8:50 p.m. on BFM TV, which takes place in Corrèze. It is also for this reason that he is not providing the political interview with RMC this Wednesday, January 19, 2022. He is replaced for the occasion by Appoline de Malherbe.
Born in 1949 in Colombes, near Paris, Jean-Jacques Bourdin is a TV presenter and a radio presenter. He made a habit of heckling his political guests somewhat in his morning broadcast on RMC and BFM TV. From the heart of the Cévennes, Jean-Jacques Bourdin had a happy encounter in 1976: that of Raymond Castans, then Secretary General of RTL programs. Aware of the talents of the young Jean-Jacques Bourdin in sports, he brought him on the radio station as a trainee. From a sports journalist, Jean-Jacques Bourdin became a reporter then a newspaper presenter. He thus climbed the ladder until obtaining the post of editor-in-chief in 1991. From 1996 to 2000, he hosted a program of a new kind, “Les auditioneurs ont la parole”.
Called in 2001 by Alain Weill, new president of RMC radio, Jean-Jacques Bourdin took over the keys to the “Bourdin & Co” morning show in 2004. Monday to Friday, from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., the host comments on political news and economical. He makes it a point of honor to engage listeners and titillate his guests with trick questions. This will be his trademark. From 2007 to 2020, his “Bourdin Direct” interview was broadcast simultaneously on BFM TV. In 2010, he tried his hand at a new program on scammers, “Abuse of trust” (TF1), but the success was not there. The same year, he received the Philippe Caloni prize for the best interviewer. Since the start of the 2020 school year, he has only presented the political interview at 8:35 a.m., on RMC and BFM TV.
On June 30, 2020, Jean-Jacques Bourdin announced that he will no longer present RMC’s morning show in response to a question from a listener. The news was later confirmed by press release by BFMTV, RMC and RMC Découverte. The approach of the presidential election and its desire to cover the event with political interviews justify this choice. Since the start of the 2020 school year, the journalist has only devoted himself to the political program “Bourdin Direct”, on BFM TV and RMC at 8:35 a.m., but also to the political program France in the eyes.
It was during the Bourdin Direct program that Jean-Jacques Bourdin met his future partner, Anne Nivat, a great written press reporter, with whom he had a son in 2006. Previously, Jean-Jacques Bourdin was married to Marie -Laure Bourdin, with whom he had two daughters.
Jean-Jacques Bourdin is controversial after being arrested for speeding
In its issue dated May 27, 2020, the daily La Montagne reports that Jean-Jacques Bourdin was arrested on Sunday May 24 by gendarmes from the Motorized Peloton of Saint-Flour after being flashed on the A75 motorway at a speed of 186 kph. The newspaper explains that “a speed of 176 km / h was finally retained. His vehicle was immobilized and he was sanctioned with an administrative retention of the driving license”. Still according to La Montagne, Jean-Jacques Bourdin would also have been fined €135 for not respecting the travel limit of 100 km around his home, a measure taken for deconfinement until June 2, 2020.
On the air of BFM TV and RMC in his program Bourdin Direct on May 28, 2020, the journalist wanted to explain himself on this subject. “Speeding yes, but travel ban no. I had two permits: one personal and one professional.” He did not wish to detail these authorizations: “my private life does not interest and should not interest absolutely anyone”. Jean-Jacques Bourdin also described the conditions in which he drove at this speed: “I was driving too fast and I am perfectly aware of it. I would still like to clarify, because everything and anything has been said about the social media as usual, that the highway was empty and there wasn’t a car. I was in a straight line and the weather was beautiful, I would like to clarify. So I was just risking for me, I was alone in the car.”