Benjamin Duhamel finally leaves BFM TV for France Inter

Benjamin Duhamel's transfer to France Inter at the start of the school year, announced on Monday, June 2, had aroused a great deal of suspicion within the public broadcaster. The 30-year-old political journalist, replacing Sonia Devillers, who had held the slot for two years, was to hold two positions: the 7:50 a.m. interview slot on the radio morning show on Mondays and Thursdays, and his daily one-hour TV program on BFM at 6:50 p.m., Tout le monde veut savoir, also from Mondays to Thursdays.

The public broadcaster's editorial staff mobilized two days later, demanding that management reject the journalist's multiple positions, one in the public sector and the other in the private sector. Six unions and the Radio France Journalists' Association denounced the new recruit's mix of roles at the public station.

But Léa Salamé's departure from the morning show has reshuffled the cards. According to Le Parisien , which revealed the news this Thursday , Benjamin Duhamel is expected to see his role expanded on France Inter's morning show, without providing further details. The journalist was also "annoyed," the daily newspaper claims , that BFM TV was offering the France Inter star her own news slot in the evening at 6:50 p.m. A proposal that Léa Salamé ultimately refused. She preferred to take over from Anne-Sophie Lapix at France 2's 8 p.m. news.

After beginning his career at RTL, Benjamin Duhamel joined BFM TV in 2019, initially to cover the far right, then as a columnist and interviewer. Heir to a long line of media professionals historically linked to public broadcasting, he is the son of Patrice Duhamel, former CEO of France Télévisions, and Nathalie Saint-Cricq, as well as the nephew of Alain Duhamel.

Regarding these accusations of profiting from a certain media nepotism, Benjamin Duhamel explained in September to Libération that "it would be indecent to complain" : "The sons of cleaning ladies or farmers obviously don't start out with the same opportunities in life. It just annoys me when it essentializes me. I still hope that if I got here, it's not simply because of my name."