Volkswacht Bodensee - French billionaire Bollore sparks turmoil at top publisher Grasset

More than 100 authors at the Grasset imprint, home to some of the biggest names in French literature, said they would leave the publishing house after the surprise departure of its long-time CEO.

Olivier Nora, who had headed Grasset for 26 years, left on Tuesday with no explanation, though reports claimed he had been sacked by Bollore following a disagreement about a book.

The turmoil at Grasset mirrors the uproar seen at other Bollore-owned TV, radio and newspaper companies that have come under the control of the 74-year-old businessman, who is close to far-right figures.

"We couldn't just do nothing," novelist Colombe Schneck told AFP about the open letter signed by 115 Grasset authors promising not to work with the publishing house in the future.

"Olivier Nora's departure was the spark."

She said everyone was aware of what Bollore had done with his other media properties including Fayard which, like Grasset, is part of the Hachette publishing group acquired by Bollore in 2023.

Fayard has become home to a roster of far-right authors from presidential candidates Eric Zemmour and Jordan Bardella to anti-immigration businessman Philippe de Villiers.

"Vincent Bollore is like Attila: he arrives, he destroys as he pleases, he corrupts because there are people who stay and have no choice," Grasset author Claude Askolovitch said on France Inter radio on Thursday.

Hachette did not comment when contacted by AFP.

Bollore's aggressive expansion into the French media in recent years has been cheered by conservatives as rebalancing what they see as long-standing left-wing bias.

The devout Catholic, who made his money in logistics, has been compared by commentators to Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch, with the Bollore-owned CNews news channel bearing similarities to US network Fox News.

Nora's departure at Grasset has been widely linked to the acquisition of the next book by conservative French-Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal following his release from prison in Algeria late last year.

"Grasset was our publishing house, a special one, because it peacefully brought together women and men writers who agreed on very little," the open letter from the departing authors stated.

"Olivier Nora was both its bulwark and its binding force, through his moral elegance, his availability, and his commitment."

G.Haefliger--VB