A French entertainment trade union has filed a lawsuit against Canal+ after the pay-TV giant threatened to cut ties with hundreds of film professionals who signed an open letter criticizing the growing media influence of billionaire Vincent Bolloré. The action was announced on Saturday by CGT-Spectacle, the largest trade union representing workers in France's entertainment and culture sectors.
The lawsuit stems from an open letter titled "Time To Switch-Off Bolloré," published on the opening night of the Cannes Film Festival and signed by 600 cinema professionals. The letter raised concerns about Bolloré's expanding control over France's media and entertainment industries. Bolloré is Canal+'s main shareholder through his Bolloré Group. The letter also flagged Canal+'s recent acquisition of a 34% stake in French cinema chain UGC, with an option to buy it outright, as a troubling development for the industry.
Canal+ CEO and Chair Maxime Saada responded by telling attendees at the group's annual producers' lunch in Cannes that the company would no longer work with anyone who had signed the letter. Canal+ is France's biggest private funder of French and European cinema, and the threat sent a wave of alarm through the industry.
CGT-Spectacle said in its statement that it had asked lawyer Arié Alimi to file a lawsuit with the Nanterre Judicial Court seeking the annulment of Saada's decision under penalty of a fine, along with the appointment of a representative to document the discrimination Canal+ had announced it intended to commit. The union also said it was considering an appeal to the European Commission over what it described as an abuse of economic dependence.
"Maxime Saada, who has worked for Canal+ for a long time, is well aware of the group's crucial role in financing films in France and the dependence of the various players in the industry," the union said. "His decision is therefore not a knee-jerk reaction but a brutal choice to discriminate against political and union-related expression, aimed at silencing the voices within the profession that are rising up against Vincent Bolloré's growing control over the entire film production and distribution chain."
In a separate action, CGT-Spectacle called on all professionals in the performing arts, media, and publishing sectors to join a protest against Bolloré in front of the Olympia music hall in Paris, which is owned by Vivendi, in which the Bolloré Group holds a stake.
Support for the original letter has continued to grow. As of May 22, the number of signatories had reached 3,800, according to Deadline. Among the latest to sign are Cannes 2026 jury member Paul Laverty, along with filmmakers Ruben Östlund, Leos Carax, Sara Driver, José-Luis Guerin, and Jasmine Trinca. The case now awaits action from the Nanterre Judicial Court.
