Newsworthy Title: Accusations of Discrimination on Set of Popular TV Show Surface
Content:
« A flawless musical adventure, Pierre we love you! But it is important to talk about the behind-the-scenes, about what France still is in 2024, » wrote a black choir member on X this Tuesday morning before sharing her experience from the previous day’s filming of « Quotidien ». Pierre Garnier, the winner of the latest « Star Academy », was a guest on the TMC show to perform his new single, « Nous on sait », live. Towards the end of the song, he joined the audience where a gospel choir, consisting of around a hundred artists, awaited him and accompanied him on the final part of the piece.
While everything went smoothly during this segment and the choir members had nothing to complain about regarding the singer, several of them shared on X, in the hours following the talk show’s filming, instances of discriminatory behavior they allegedly faced from the show’s production team. « The racism we experienced? A disgrace, » one of them expressed, mentioning the « hyper unpleasant and condescending production team », as well as the « hours of waiting » and the requirement to « eat in the stairs ».
In a summary thread, a user on X recounted that the artists arrived around 2:30 pm. Black bracelets were given to the black choir members. After the first rehearsal, the black choir members had to « leave the set to go to a room » while « the non-black choir members [white or perceived as such] stayed on set ». They had to wait « several hours » in a cold, windowless room – the « Quotidien » studios are located underground – « without any sense of time as phones were not allowed ».
« Concerns about the choir members feeling treated differently should make us reflect. »
« Throughout the entire show, there were choir members who were not of color in the audience (those without black bracelets). The colored choir members were only released to sing the 2 minutes and 50 seconds with Pierre, » stated the X user who posted the thread.
« When there are such testimonies, we should take them seriously. We need to listen. The fact that the choir members felt treated differently should make us reflect, » responded Bangumi to 20 Minutes, the production company of « Quotidien », admitting to « dysfunctions ». These included poor communication: « When there are a hundred choir members, a production company, a record label, security personnel, audience members, and there is no coordination between all these entities, misunderstandings occur. »
« We have been fighting against discrimination for a long time. »
« When the record label Sony proposed the idea of having Pierre Garnier sing with a hundred choir members, which we liked, the entire audience was already booked. We canceled some reservations, but it’s complicated to cancel all of them, especially because some people come from the province, for instance. So we kept around fifty. It was these people who were asked, during the video introducing Pierre Garnier, to stand up and go in front of the stage for the choir members to take their place during the song, » a Bangumi executive told 20 Minutes.
« We should have informed them that it would take time, that we put a bracelet on all guests so they can move freely backstage, that part of the audience could not be canceled. I believe that if we explain things to people, everything goes smoothly. » However, the lack of explanations was one of the criticisms voiced by several choir members who testified on X.
« The fact that there were only black individuals in those dressing rooms is true. What we reject, given the show, its history, and the values it has always upheld, are the accusations of racism. We have been fighting against discrimination for a long time. It is regrettable that these individuals felt this way, and that they came to think that. We take note of it, and we need to ask ourselves questions about the organization. »