The editor of Paris Match magazine has been sacked over a cover showing far-right presidential contender Éric Zemmour in a clinch with his assistant.
Hervé Gattegno was fired a month after displaying photographs of Zemmour, 63, in a compromising position with his 28-year-old assistant Sarah Knafo in the Mediterranean Sea off the French Riviera, on the front cover of the weekly magazine.
According to The Times, Zemmour was upset by the Paris Match scoop and announced that he was taking legal action against the person responsible for his privacy breach.
The cover did little to stop Zemmour – who is married with three children – from surging in the French polls off the back of his attacks on immigration and Islam.
Pictured: French far-right media pundit Eric Zemmour (left) and his advisor Sarah Knafo pose during a photo session in Paris on April 22, 2021. The photo of the pair was taken in a clinch and the photo was placed on the cover of Paris Match magazine.
He is yet to declare that he will run for the presidency next year, as some have called him “French Donald Trump”.
Even so, election polls show he sits neck-and-neck with far-right rival Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally, with around 16 percent of the vote.
The winner of the contest will be expected to face President Macron next January.
According to journalists working at Paris Match, the cover annoyed Vincent Bolloré, the main shareholder in Lagardère, the conglomerate that owns the weekly.
The 69-year-old billionaire import-export tycoon from Brittany, who acquired the media empire, is reportedly well acquainted with Zemmour, having employed him as a pundit on CNews.
Under Bolloré’s leadership, the rolling news channel has veered to the right, with Zemmour being the star attraction with his far-right views including an anti-Islam stance and warnings that increasing immigration would see religious conflicts and vicil war in France.
The pundit left last week to prepare for his expected run for the presidency.
Pictured: Now-former Paris Match editor Herve Gattegno seen arriving the trial of the so-called Bettencourt affair, on November 3, 2015 at the Bordeaux’s courthouse. Gattegno was fired as editor of Paris Match.
Paris Match’s now-former editor Gattegno, 57, also edited Lagardère’s Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.
It is reportedly common knowledge that Gattegno is close with Macron and former president and right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy, who was in power from 2007 to 2012.
Under his editorship, Le Journal du Dimanche has become known as ‘Macron’s Pravda’. However, Gattegno is said to not be a fan of Zemmour, and recently described him as ‘a prophet of doom’.
Speaking to French news outlet Le Figaro, one journalist at Paris Match said: ‘Hervé Gattegno was a controversial figure but he has always positioned himself firmly against the extreme right.’
The journalist said Gattegno was fired for attacking Zemmour and for sending a paparazzi to take the photographs in the south of France, but others have suggested that Gattegno had already fallen on the wrong side of Bolloré.
According to some, the editor knew he was losing his job as editor.
Ms Knafo is reported to wield an increasing influence over Zemmour, with Le Monde writing in an article this week that she was his partner, right-hand woman and campaign director.
The Le Monde article, however, made no mention of Zemmour’s wife Mylène Chichportich, or their three children.
The news of Gattegno’s firing came as a new opinion poll on Friday saw Zemmour edge Marine Le Pen out of the qualifying spot for a second-round duel against President Emmanuel Macron in next April’s presidential election.
Zemmour is said to be increasingly influenced by Ms Knafo, (pictured). Le Monde reported this week that Ms Knafo was his right-hand man and campaign director.
The meteoric rise in opinion ratings by political talk show host has dispelled long-held expectations that the second round would be a repeat contest between Macron and Le Pen in 2017. Le Pen’s party has dominated right-wing politics for decades.
The poll published Friday by Ipsos Sopra Steeria for Le Monde newspaper was only the second to place Zemmour in run-off vote. It had 16-16.5 percent in first round, compared to 15-16 percent for Le Pen.
With 24-28 percent, Macron was still leading the first round. Although the latest poll didn’t predict the winner of round 2, other polls have predicted Macron to be the eventual winner.
Ipsos pollsters from Sopra Steria noted that Zemmour is more divisive among voters than Le Pen, despite being convicted of inciting hatred.
Only 20% of Zemmour’s supporters believe he has what is required to become president, while 30% support Le Pen. Zemmour has the support of only 8 percent of women under 35, whereas 21 percent support Zemmour for men over 60.
The poll was conducted with 16,000 people between October 7th and October 13th.