Franceinfo suspends journalist Jean-François Achilli over alleged collaboration with Jordan Bardella

The management of franceinfo suspended “as a precautionary measure” on Thursday its journalist and political columnist Jean-François Achilli, who would have collaborated in the writing of the upcoming autobiography of Jordan Bardella, outraged by this sanction. “These methods practiced by the public service are worthy of the worst regimes and shame democracy,” reacted the president of the National Rally on X (ex-Twitter). He also did not confirm this collaboration, speaking of a “supposed exchange around a book of interviews with me which did not see the light of day”.

“The management of franceinfo received Jean-François Achilli this (Thursday) morning following the article published by Le Monde yesterday (Wednesday) evening,” the radio had indicated to AFP a little earlier. This deprivation of antenna, effective “from this day”, must last “while the situation is clarified”. According to an article in Le Monde, which cites Jordan Bardella, before the summer of 2023, the latter approached “for a joint work” Jean-François Achilli, who interviews a political figure daily at the end of the afternoon and co-presents the current affairs talk show Les Informés in the evening. The journalist, aged 61, “refuses”.

Still according to the daily, the editorialist “nevertheless worked in the shadows, giving Bardella his memories, thus allowing the beginning of a text to see the light of day”. The elected official, however, assures that “only (his) close entourage helps him to write this book, for the proofreading”. “I didn’t sign a writing contract for Jordan Bardella’s book. But all this concerns my personal professional life,” Jean-François Achilli responded to Le Monde.

According to L'Obs, Mazarine Editions, owned by Hachette Livre, in the fold of conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré, could publish the book by Jordan Bardella, head of the RN list in the European elections in June. They are directed by Lise Boëll, known for being behind the transformation of Eric Zemmour into a successful essayist. Jordan Bardella, however, declared to Le Monde that “it would be an error to assert that Lise Boëll is preparing to publish (it)”.