“Toxic”, “humiliations”, “tears”…: the painful memories of Patrick Cohen's colleagues on France Inter

On Monday, February 3, 2025, Médiapart revealed an investigation targeting the behavior of Patrick Cohen when he was at the head of the France Inter morning show. According to several of his former work colleagues, the journalist had toxic behavior.

© BestImage Patrick Cohen's behavior when he worked on France Inter has resurfaced.

IN BRIEF

• Between 2010 and 2017, Patrick Cohen hosted the morning show on France Inter, a period during which he was accused of toxic behavior according to a Mediapart investigation published on February 3, 2025.
• 19 France Inter employees testified against Patrick Cohen, describing aggressive management and harsh criticism, without requesting an internal investigation but wishing to record the facts.
• Patrick Cohen refutes the accusations of moral harassment, calling the Mediapart investigation a “malicious procedure”, while denying having had hierarchical power over at the time.

A behavior far from having gone unnoticed… Between 2010 and 2017, Patrick Cohen was at the head of the France Inter morning show. During his time on the radio station with the red logo, the journalist allegedly engaged in toxic behavior. In an investigation revealed by M&eacutediapart on Monday, February 3, 2025, a journalist let out: “We thought we were going to stick with the case of Yaë Goosz, and finally something like catharsis happened. I had never experienced that at Inter”.

An editorial assistant, an employee of France Inter for almost twenty years, spoke about a work atmosphere “anxiety-provoking, toxic and stressful“ that she said Patrick Cohen was weighing on the morning show teams. She detailed then “the harsh criticisms” of the 62-year-old journalist against the work of his colleagues, his “aggressive” management, “the daily humiliations” as well as “the tears” that accompanied them.

19 employees testified against Patrick Cohen

Following the various testimonies of France Inter employees, the station's news director, Marc Fauvelle, contacted the human resources department, so that the people concerned could be received. An internal source also indicated : “The employees who are breaking their silence today are not seeking to settle old scores. They are not asking for an internal investigation to be opened, with possible sanctions, but want to record these facts, to say that they existed, in case management were to entrust them with responsibilities again or if there were the slightest repeat offence”.

Mediapart, which collected the testimonies of 19 employees, specified in his investigation: “All of them admit to having been victims, or witnesses, of Patrick Cohen's managerial brutality. Some witnesses believe that the facts described could be moral harassment“.

Patrick Cohen mentions “an investigation against”

If Patrick Cohen had accepted to answer questions from Médiapart, he finally changed his mind. He refers in fact to “a charged investigation”, a “malicious procedure” conducted by people who “participated in a marginal way in this adventure more than ten years ago”. The C à vous columnist was also surprised that “facts of such gravity could have occurred without either the unions or the journalists' society being notified or alerted”.

As specified by M&eacutediapart, the journalist rejects any accusation of authoritarian management, and specifies that he had not at the time no hierarchical power and did not intervene in the composition of the morning show teams. Despite everything, the incriminating testimonies are numerous. Several people claim to have picked up certain colleagues “&à la petite spoillère” because of the journalist. “During the broadcast of a report, he could say, twenty seconds before the resumption of the air: 'Ah, tell me your upcoming brief, it's rubbish, I don't understand anything', or 'The order of your news, it's nonsense'“, indicated a former presenter of the 7-9. A columnist of the time specified as to she: “He did this repeatedly, often to the same people, usually women. On the radio, we're used to doing debriefs, but not live”.