Bally Bagayoko, mayor of Saint-Denis, on the outskirts of Paris, in the neighboring town of La Courneuve, on March 28, 2026. CAMILLE MILLERAND/DIVERGENCE FOR LE MONDE
Did CNews allow racist remarks to go unchecked for two consecutive days? Two segments broadcast on March 27 and 28 on the opinion channel – France's equivalent of Fox News –triggered a heated debate on social media: Some condemned the comments about Bally Bagayoko, the newly elected mayor of Saint-Denis, the largest Paris suburb, as racist and discriminatory; others dismissed that criticism as unfair. Bagayoko made up his mind: He announced he was filing a complaint against the channel and called for a "citizens' rally" against racism on Saturday, April 4, outside his city hall.
On the evening of Friday, March 27, during a discussion on air about the new mayor's early days in office, journalist Olivier de Keranflec'h asked psychologist Jean Doridot whether the mayor was "trying to push boundaries." "There's probably some of that," said Doridot. "But it's important to remember that Homo sapiens, we are social mammals and part of the great ape family. And so, in every community, every tribe – our hunter-gatherer ancestors lived in tribes – there's a leader whose role is to establish authority." As controversy flared up on X, Doridot quickly denied any racist intent: "I wanted to make my point universal. Maybe that wasn't clear enough," he said.
