Court overturns Canal +'s dismissal of sports journalist Stéphane Guy

The Paris Court of Appeal has put an end to a four-year-old saga in which Canal+ was not the broadcaster but one of the protagonists. In a June 25 decision, the court ruled in favor of sports journalist Stéphane Guy , who believed he had been unfairly dismissed by the encrypted channel. He should never have been fired, according to the judges, who ordered his reinstatement at Canal+.

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A satisfaction for the man who has since worked for the RMC-BFM TV group and the L'Equipe channel. "He is delighted to be returning to Canal+ , without resentment and with his passion for his job intact," according to his lawyer, Mr. Khatchikian. The latter also told the newspaper L'Equipe that Canal+ will have to "pay him a total amount of just over 700,000 euros in back pay, in particular."

A former commentator for football matches broadcast by the channels of the group owned by far-right billionaire Vincent Bolloré, Stéphane Guy was fired on December 24, 2020. A few days earlier, on December 5, he had paid tribute to Sébastien Thoen at halftime of Montpellier-PSG. The latter had been fired by Canal + after participating in a parody of L'Heure des pros, a show presented by Pascal Praud on the group's news channel, CNews.

Stéphane Guy addressed these words to him on air: "I want to salute my friend Sébastien Thoen who did not get the exit he deserved . We wish him good luck […]." And the journalist quoted Coluche, "one of the founders of our great channel" : "You have to be wary of comedians because sometimes they say things as a joke."

An intolerable departure for the channel's managers, such as Maxime Saada, the president of Canal +. "Stéphane [Guy], I had already told him several times that it wasn't his channel, that he couldn't use it to say things that came to mind. I myself never allowed myself to do that," the director justified in the magazine L'Equipe, in March 2021.

Following his forced departure, Stéphane Guy sued his former employers in the industrial tribunal. The civil court ruled in Stéphane Guy's favor on August 29, 2022. According to the decision, the channel's former star commentator "had committed no wrongdoing" and his dismissal was " unfair ." Canal + appealed the judgment, but the appeal was dismissed on Wednesday.