French TV host makes fake gay online profile to mock gay men live on TV
A French TV presenter has created a dating app and used it to mock gay people on live television.
Touche Pas A Mon Poste presenter Cyril Hanouna created the fake profile and then pranked people who messaged him.
In the segment on the programme Don’t Touch My TV Set, the presenter spoke to those who messaged him using overly camp gestures and feminine voices.
The people who were unaware that they were on the phone were coaxed into talking about their sexual fantasies.
Hanna defended the incident and claimed that he was a staunch fighter against homophobia.
“Homophobia is everything I’ve been fighting against for years, just like xenophobia, racism and misogyny, and today being called homophobic makes me feel really sad,” he said.
Max Emerson was used as the picture for the online portfolio, and he has since condemned the “prank”.
Since going on air on Thursday, the CSA which regulates television standards has received numerous complaints about the segment of the show.
SOS Homophobie, an association in France which protects gay people, has also made a formal complaint.
President of the organisation, Joël Deumier, deemed the segment “scandalous, shameful and homophobic”.
“When you let people get away with behaviour like this, you trivialise homophobic discourse.
“This sketch was deeply homophobic and you would have to be aware of it,” he said.
The show has received nearly 6,500 complaints in the last year.
A group of French journalists who studied the show over a period of four weeks found that the show had mentioned homosexuality 42 times, and most often it was mentioned with the intention to “demean it”.
