Rude behavior. Arnault is now suing Libé for "public insult," punishable by law in France
I don't know if you've been following this, but French President François Hollande gave a big speech last night. In it he discussed France's urgent need to raise €30 billion by next year. (You get the feeling this was a surprise to him.) His plan is for two-thirds of it to come from tax hikes, mostly on the rich, including a rate of 75% on incomes above a million euros a year, with "no exception" for artists or athletes. Turns out that makes France suddenly very unpopular with the rich. Not coincidentally, France's richest man was reported this weekend to have acquired Belgian nationality. This morning, we all woke up to see this headline in Paris newspaper Libération.
Not Libé's most glamorous moment, that's for sure. If Bernard Arnault does become Belgian, I certainly would not blame him... It's funny how Libé can't help mentioning Sarkozy when he has been gone for several months already... I hope they move on, for everyone's sake.
Posted by: veronique savoye | 11 September 2012 at 06:30
It's offensive, but it's also a word play in context of Sarko's notorious "Casse-toi pauv' con" line. I've been amused by the Anglo-American press completely missing this and simply assuming that it's a full-blown lefty, knee-jerk attack. I think only the Daily Telegraph picked this up.
Posted by: Accius | 13 September 2012 at 16:58
Moreover, I should add that even though the Telegraph got the reference, they interpreted "pauv' con" as if Sarko literally meant "you are an idiot from a low socio-economic background" as opposed to "you are goddamn idiot" which is the common meaning. Takes one to know one!
Posted by: Accius | 13 September 2012 at 17:05
I apologize for having to hold the comments for review before publication. Getting a lot of spam comments at the moment. If you're not spam, you will be published as soon as I can get to it! Sorry!
Posted by: Sedulia | 13 September 2012 at 19:42