When the far right comes to light; press release from SUD Culture Solidaires following threats from Maxime Saada and Vincent Bolloré
We, workers in cinema and more broadly in culture, have been denouncing for several years the control of billionaire Vincent Bolloré in these sectors. His “civilizational project” as he likes to say, is to bring the extreme right to power by all means. He no longer hides it.
Every day, employees in the book and media worlds alert us to the deterioration of their working conditions and the restriction of freedoms of expression and criticism.
In response to this situation, the tribune “Zapper Bolloré” from Été publiée Libération on May 11, 2026 and signed by more than 2000 professionals today. People who had the courage to express their concerns, shortly after the brutal ousting of Olivier Nora from Editions Grasset & Fasquelle, 3 years after the takeover of the Hachette group by Bolloré.
This forum rightly recalled:
- Bolloré’s control over the Canal+ Group, the main financier of cinema, and the plan for the complete takeover of UGC in the short term.
- The real risk of standardization of films, with a reactionary influence on the collective imagination.
- The need to break the silence imposed on the sector and to build alternatives to defend an independent sector in order to broadcast and program differently and more freely.
Contrary to the allegations of Maxime Saada, chairman of the board of directors of the Canal+ Group, this forum targeted the owner of Canal+ and not its employees. The decision to no longer work with the signatories of this forum, and the implicit threat to any other person who would like to express any criticism, in reality shows the true face of what the extreme right is in business. “I pay, I decide” is not acceptable speech.
As a reminder, the Bolloré empire relies 90% on communication, culture and media activities.
- in audiovisual production: Studio Canal, Banijay and very soon UGC;
- in the Media: Europe 1, CNews, C Star, Nollywood Tv, Femme Actuelle, Geo, Voici, National Geographic, JDD, Capital…;
- the net and vod platforms: Dailymotion, my canal;
- the performance halls: L’Olympia, Folies Bergère and Casino de Paris;
- board games with its Hachette boardgame branch: Skyjo, Six qui peut, Saboteur…;
- the journalism school: ESJ Paris;
- commerce: Relay stores in stations;
- Musique : Universal Music Group ;
- Publishing: the Hachette Livre group, which includes, among others, the houses Hatier, Fayard, Grasset, Le Livre de papier, Larousse, Calmann-Lévy, La bibliothèque verte, Armand Colin, Didier, JC Lattès, Marabout, Le guide du routard… is also the largest distributor of books in France.
And if the legality of this method is questionable, it is first and foremost a symbolic and ideological threat, and above all a way for Saada to prove his allegiance to Bolloré.
Several queer artists or those who have taken a stand for the right to self-determination of Palestine and against the genocide in Gaza are already affected by far-right censorship: canceled shows, refusal to be hosted in theaters, refusal of authorization for street shows, loss of funding… This also affects the book sector, media, comedians…
In the cities and regions that have come under the yoke of the far right or the extreme right, culture is attacked, places are closed, workers are fired, subsidies are withdrawn. More broadly, the precariousness of the sector encourages self-censorship.
Because yes, as in any sector, money is the crux of the matter. However, Canal+, a private group, now has the right of life and death over a large part of French cinema. This situation was already a problem, which is today aggravated by the omnipotence of the extreme right at the head of the group, and this without questioning from the public authorities.
And if there is criticism or questioning, the far right often uses the justice card by means of defamation suits or SLAPP proceedings against the media concerned.
But this will not happen! Faced with this new attack, SUD Culture Solidaires calls for collective awareness in the sector and the strengthening of mobilizations.
- We refuse to be intimidated by the far right.
- We refuse to be stepped on and change our way of thinking because the far right doesn’t like it…
- We refuse censorship in our creations, and worse, the self-censorship that we actually impose on ourselves in this deleterious climate.
- We deplore the cowardice of a large part of the world of culture, including many public figures who act as if nothing had happened, when they do not directly participate in a so-called depoliticization of the arts. How far will the compromise go?
So let’s continue to denounce, let’s continue to sign forums, let’s go beyond Bolloré, let’s come together to do it, let’s create spaces of solidarity, dissemination and alternative creation.
Let’s create a strong culture that the far right and all the reactionaries hate.
Because we, cultural workers and trade unionists, are a bulwark against nauseating reactionary ideas and must enter into resistance.
Let’s open our mouths even more!
To sign the column, it is still possible by clicking on this link.
SUD Culture Solidaires
May 19, 2026
