Dismissal of Isabel Saporta from office – Liberation

She began a conflict with Vincent Bolloré as part of the takeover of the Hachette Group. Isabel Saporta will be fired from her position as General Manager of Fayard Telerama And Obs. According to an internal source cited by AFP, this Friday afternoon, March 8, called by the deputy general director of Hachette Livres, Stephanie Ferron, she left the office with a summons for an interview before the dismissal on March 20.

Isabelle Saporta, who has held the post of head of the Fayard publishing house since 2022, refused to accept the request of the management of the parent company Hachette, she left part of her prerogatives to Liz Boel. The close friend of Vincent Bollor will soon join the group, a subsidiary of Lagardere, which Vincent Bollor’s Vivendi firm took control of in November. She is being approached to take over as head of Mazarin, a small publishing house.

However, the leaders wanted it to be able to publish books, especially political books, under the Fjord label. Among Lise Boel’s luggage: Eric Zemmour, Philippe de Villiers, and even bolosphere figures like Christine Kelly and Marc Manant. She will also be on hand, according to Obs, First book manuscript by Jordan Bardella, President of the National Rally, which should be published after the European elections in June. Isabelle Saporta refused to approve this brand sharing theory for weeks, fearing that the political line Mazarin wanted to bring to the writers would damage her image.

In the conflict, Fayard’s employees took to the cause of their management in a letter addressed Thursday to Hachette Lever CEOs Arnaud Lagardere and Stephanie Ferron. “Uncertainties about the future of the Fayard and Mazarin brands and our CEO are already having a very concrete impact on our daily life in the company and on our relationships with our external partners, especially authors.” They wrote.

This text has a demand for employees “Complete Separation of the Fayard and Mazarin Brands”. A combination of two doors “damages Fayard’s identity and obscures its understanding by our customers (booksellers and readers) and our authors”, They estimate. There was a letter to Arnaud Lagarde and Stephanie Farron “Signed by Majority” According to another insider source, of the company’s 42 employees. But Hatchet’s management and the Breton billionaire’s team finally made the decision. Another head turned.