Canal+ CEO Maxime Saada sought to clarify his controversial comments regarding the signatories of a petition criticizing Vincent Bolloré's growing influence over French media, insisting that "there will be no talk of persecuting them" and defending Canal+'s role as one of the largest financial backers of the French film industry. Speaking at Canal+'s general meeting of shareholders on Wednesday, Saada claimed his comments made during the Cannes Film Festival had been distorted and denied reports that the company was creating a blacklist. This was the second general meeting of Canal+ Group shareholders since its listing on the London Stock Exchange as a standalone company and separation from its former parent company, Vivendi. The scandal erupted after nearly 600 film industry professionals, including Juliette Binoche and Arthur Harari, signed a petition expressing concern about Canal+'s acquisition of shares in leading French cinema chain UGC (with potential full control by 2028); and highlighting the broader concentration of media power associated with the Bolloré empire and the editorial shift to the right at its publications in the run-up to the 2027 French presidential elections. Concerns about Bolloré's ideological agenda are heightened by the presence of CNews, France's equivalent of Fox News, within the Canal+ Group. At Cannes screenings, the banner was booed and jeered whenever the Canal+ logo appeared on screen.
The backlash intensified after Saada announced in Cannes that Canal+ would no longer collaborate with the petition's signatories, sparking accusations of blacklisting and threats of legal action from some unions (such as the Human Rights League and CGT Spectacle). Following Saada's comments, the petition garnered over 3,500 signatures, receiving international support from Javier Bardem, Mark Ruffalo, and Ken Loach, among others.
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Speaking to Canal+ Group shareholders today, Saada downplayed the scale of the conflict, noting that the French film industry employs approximately 250,000 people and claiming that only "one to two percent" had signed the petition. "About 99% didn't recognize themselves in a petition that attacks Canal+," Saada said. Earlier this week, Cyril Bolloré, who succeeded his father, Vincent, as head of the Bolloré Group in 2019, also rejected accusations that the family was pursuing political goals, calling claims that the group was promoting a "neo-fascist" project a "massive lie." Against this backdrop, Saada used Canal+'s annual general meeting to defend both the broadcaster's reputation and its long-standing role as a proactive sponsor of French cinema, while making clear that the attacks on the company would not go unnoticed. "We perceived this as a blatant injustice," Saada said. «I never talked about a blacklist.».
«"There's absolutely no question of persecuting the technicians who signed the petition and denying them funding for the films they're working on. That would be absurd. We have a basic conscience—we're not going to persecute people whose work is their source of income. That's never been a problem and never will be." However, Saada acknowledged that filmmakers' relationships with Canal+ will now be factored into the company's decision-making process. "I want to be transparent: I'll add a new dimension to how we evaluate projects," Saada said. "The question will be: What respect do the people behind the project have for Canal+? Have they caused Canal+ any harm?" "If someone knocks on your door calling you a fascist and asking for money, you can refuse," he continued. "We'll apply the same logic." The executive presented the scandal as an attack on Canal+ itself, not on Bollore, whose family group remains Canal+'s majority shareholder with a 30.4% stake. Although he officially resigned in 2022, Bolloré, now 74, is well known to occasionally sit on project approval committees within the Canal+ group, though his influence on decision-making has rarely been proven, with the notorious exception of François Ozon's film "By the Grace of God," which the channel did not acquire. "When the words 'fascist vision of the collective imagination' appear next to the name Canal+, it is an attack on the integrity and reputation of the Canal+ teams—and my own," Saada said. Saada also vigorously defended Canal+'s track record in funding French cinema, arguing that the company has played a crucial role in supporting the industry over the past two decades. "During the ten years I was directly in charge, we supported approximately 100 films a year—a total of around 1,000 films, at least half of which would not have been made without Canal+," Saada said.
«"Our contractual obligations amount to approximately €100 million per year, but we have voluntarily committed to investing €160 million annually. This is not a matter of obligation; it is a conscious choice by Canal+ to support French and European cinema. We will continue to do so in all its diversity," he continued, mentioning films such as Boris Loikine's "The Souleymane Story," about a Guinean courier seeking asylum in Paris, and Dominique Moll's "Case 137," about the Yellow Vest protests in France. Under its latest three-year agreement, Canal+ committed to investing €480 million over three years, ending in 2027. It is believed that the next round of negotiations on a new agreement between producers and Canal+ has already begun and could be affected by the ongoing conflict. Beyond discussing the controversy, Saada used the shareholders' meeting to outline Canal+'s broader international expansion and content strategy, including the announcement that StudioCanal and Working Title had secured the film rights to The Divorce by bestselling author Frieda McFadden, whose novel The Chambermaid became a global hit. He also hinted at plans including a remake of The Italian Job, TV adaptations of Army of Darkness, Le Cercle Rouge, and Non-Stop, and a new Asterix feature film to be directed by Jonathan Cohen and produced by Hugo Sélignac's Chi-Fou-Mi Productions. Saada also detailed Canal+'s plans following its acquisition of African pay-TV giant MultiChoice, outlining an aggressive growth strategy aimed at reducing equipment costs, expanding the company's sales network, hiring 1,000 additional sales staff across the continent, and increasing investment in African film production. The company is behind two African films that won awards at Cannes: Marie-Clémentine Dussabejambo's "Benimina," which became the first African film to win the Caméra d'Or, and Rafiki Faryala's "Congo Boy," which won Best Actor in Un Certain Regard for Bradley Fiomona.
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