- Mark Ruffalo and Javier Bardem signed an open letter against French conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré.
- The letter slams Vincent Bolloré’s grip on the French entertainment and media sector.
- The petition was launched on the opening night of the Cannes Film Festi
Mark Ruffalo and Javier Bardem are among the Hollywood personalities signing an open letter against conservative businessman Vincent Bollore's grip on the French entertainment and media industry. Other prominent names in the film industry like Ken Loach, Aki Kaurismaki and Yorgos Lanthimos have also lent support to the petition.
The petition, spearheaded by the collective Zapper Bollore, slams the billionaire Canal+ shareholder's increasing footprint in the French entertainment industry. The petition, launched on the opening night of the Cannes Film Festival, also took aim at the Canal+ Group's planned acquisition of a 34% stake in UGC, a major production, distribution and exhibition company in France, with an option to buy it by 2028.
The letter raised concerns about a rightward shift in Canal+'s editorial line ahead of the French presidential elections next year, where the far-right party Rassemblement National is a leading contender.
The dispute around Canal+ has become one of the biggest off-screen dramas in this edition of Cannes Film Festival, Variety reported, with prominent French film industry professionals such as Juliette Binoche, Swann Arlaud and Jean-Pascal Zadi among the signatories.
According to the collective, 3,460 industry professionals have now signed the letter, Euronews reported. The petition initially had 600 signatories before Canal+ president Maxime Saada stated on Sunday that he did not want to work with the signatories of the text.
The Federation of Screenwriters in Europe (FSE), which represents 10,000 writers across the continent, issued a statement on the debate, adding that the Canal+ case was symptomatic of the growing threats to freedom of creation and expression in the region, as per Deadline.
Canal+ is the biggest non-state funder of French cinema. Last year, it committed $558 million worth of investments in cinema over three years, with $174 million in 2025, $186 million in 2026 and $197 million in 2027.
As for Bollore, his fortune includes an 18.4% stake in Universal Music Group, 30.4% stake in Canal+, and similar percentages of ownership in Louis Hachette and Havas, leading firms in communication and media.
The billionaire has been the target of open letters earlier as well. Over a hundred writers announced in April that they were leaving publishing house Grasset, owned by Louis Hachette, after the dismissal of its chairman Olivier Nora. In a joint letter, the writers slammed Vincent Bollore's excessive influence.
For now, the controversy has brought some major off-screen drama to Cannes.