France Télévisions is facing accusations and criticism over the selection of Slimane, as the country’s representative for Eurovision 2024 following the allegations of sexual harassment by the latter.
The chronicle
Past Monday a complain was filed on Slimane for sexually harassing one of the technicians on his tour in late 2023. Specifically, the events mentioned took place on December 17, 2023 at Saint-Etienne’s Zénith.
After Slimane’s performance that night, a technician claims that the singer “blocked him against a wall” and then “imposed an embrace” on him before strongly requesting they have sexual intercourse.
The technician allegedly returned to the tour bus after Slimane’s requests were turned down. The 35-year-old singer allegedly sent him “a multitude of messages and videos of a sexual, even pornographic nature” over the course of two and a half hours that night.
The following morning, the technician in question informed the production company and they decided to remove him from the tour along with another individual. Slimane’s tour was launched two weeks before these events took place and was not cancelled then.
Le Parisien gave publicity to the aforementioned event, having investigating the story since January. The victim was identified but did not wish to make it public until a few days ago.
Why did France Télévisions continued their collaboration with Slimane?
A month prior to the events, Slimane and his song “Mon Amour” were selected for Eurovision 2024. France Télévisions now faces questions about whether they knew about the incident and the singer’s inappropriate behavior, and if they did, why they kept working with him.
According to Le Parisien, the company that employed the technician in question notified France Télévisions of the incident by late December, and the broadcaster had been formally aware of it since early January.
On the other hand, a representative of France Télévisions claims that:
At the time, it was all about rumours, not proven facts. And our work does not depend on rumours.
Was France Télévisions afraid of a potential backlash?
The 2023 selection of La Zarra, whose inappropriate behavior sparked backlash in France, put France Télévisions in a weak spot and made them vulnerable to criticism. The singer herself let out a frustrated “middle finger” during the Liverpool voting sequence and after the public’s score for La Zarra’s entry was revealed.
France Télévisions may have wished to avoid making things public and drawing unfavorable attention out of fear of receiving additional criticism from the national media.
With sold-out dates on his upcoming tour, Slimane became a pan-European sensation after “Mon Amour” finished fourth overall and was unquestionably one of Europe’s favorites in Malmö.
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