Nagui's hearing before the parliamentary inquiry committee on public broadcasting turned into a clash on Wednesday. For several minutes, “Don’t forget the lyrics”, one of France 2's flagship programs, found itself at the heart of the debates, against a backdrop of questions surrounding the presenter's remuneration, the program's budget, its profit margin and the working conditions on set.
This hearing took the form of a personal and political confrontation between Nagui and the commission's rapporteur, MP Charles Alloncle, in a particularly tense atmosphere.
The amount of 2500 euros per issue presented to the commission
During the hearing, Charles Alloncle stated that the documents transmitted by France Télévisions mentioned for Do not forget the lyrics Nagui receives €2500 per 30-minute episode, amounting to €1,5 million per year for this program alone. The MP added that this sum had received an additional €378000 this year, a level he considered higher than Delphine Ernotte's salary.
Nagui immediately disputed this interpretation. According to him, the sum listed in the budget documents did not correspond to actual remuneration paid, but rather to a line item representing the presenter's value within the program's economics. He explained that this amount represented the theoretical value of the position if another presenter were to take over the show, and not the money he would personally receive. He emphasized that this sum was part of the company's management and not a direct payment to him.
Faced with this explanation, Charles Alloncle repeatedly expressed his skepticism, maintaining his questions about the reality of this budget line.
An immediate clash over the accusations against Nagui
Even before going into the details of the figures, Nagui gave his hearing a particularly aggressive tone. From the outset, the presenter announced that he had filed a complaint against persons unknown for cyberbullying. “late January, early February”claiming to be the target of a “hate campaign” triggered, according to him, by an interview given by Charles Alloncle at the end of 2025.
During this direct attack, Nagui accused the MP of having publicly exposed him without proof. He retorted: "You are throwing me to the wolves without proof by triggering threats and racist messages."In the aftermath, he also denounced the personal consequences of this controversy. "Your intuition, as you say, has triggered insults, threats, incitements to harm my physical integrity, all accompanied by numerous racist messages."he said. Then he added: "I'm protecting my family, I live with security guards (...) you're putting my family in danger."
Still in the same sequence, Nagui again accused the commission's rapporteur of having exposed him in the media without tangible evidence. “I don’t know what you expected (…) by throwing me to the wolves like that, without any proof, apart from your intuition.”he exclaimed, deliberately calling her “Charles-Henri Alloncle”using his full first name.
The MP immediately responded by claiming that he too was the target of death threats following Nagui's response published on social media, which further strained the atmosphere of the hearing.
Charles Alloncle's statements about enrichment "with public money"
This confrontation is taking place amidst a controversy. In an interview given at the end of 2025, Charles Alloncle specifically accused Nagui, presenting him as “The person in France over the last ten years who has become the richest using public money”He then estimated that this amounted to “in hundreds of millions” euros, referring to the programs produced by Nagui's company for France Télévisions. The MP did, however, specify that he was speaking in the conditional tense.
During his first questions to the Assembly, Charles Alloncle also revived the old controversy of the “host-producers” of the 1990s, an episode in which Nagui’s name had already been mentioned at the time.
Faced with these accusations, the presenter denounced a confusion between a company's financial results and its personal enrichment. "You're creating a buzz by confusing revenue and profits."he said to the UDR deputy, an ally of the National Rally.
A 25% margin was mentioned for “N'oubliez pas les paroles”
After the host's salary was discussed, the debate shifted to the profitability of the music game show. Charles Alloncle stated that Do not forget the lyrics would generate a margin of 25%, whereas that of comparable programs would be more like 10% to 15%.
Nagui replied that he didn't know the source of that figure. He asked the MP to send him the documents he was referring to, indicating that he would provide a written response on the matter. Here again, the disagreement between the two men illustrated the difficulty in reconciling their interpretations of the program's actual economic impact.
The filming conditions and the pay of the crews have reignited the controversy.
The hearing then focused on the salaries and work schedules of those present on set, whether dancers, musicians, or those whom the production calls the "atmosphere creators." Charles Alloncle notably cited the testimony of a former dancer on the show, who reportedly described a work schedule "intolerablegoing so far as to say: "It's one of the worst jobs there is!"
The MP also quoted Patrick Sébastien, who claimed that the production company recorded up to 14 shows a day, paying some dancers 100 euros. He then questioned Nagui about the legality of these practices.
The host rejected this presentation. He asserted that the production respected collective agreements and that the entertainers were paid a flat fee, based on the minimums corresponding to their status. He clarified that the stated sum of 100 euros was inaccurate and that it was actually 50% higher, or 150 euros. He also emphasized that these performers rotated during the recordings. Nagui finally suggested that some of the criticism came from a former dancer whose contract was not renewed, who, according to him, had kept “a certain bitterness”.
From 6 or 7 broadcasts to 14 per day to absorb budget cuts
To defend the organization of the program, Nagui placed the evolution of Do not forget the lyrics within a broader budgetary framework. He explained that at launch, production recorded 6 or 7 shows per day, before gradually increasing the pace to 14 daily.
According to him, this evolution is directly linked to the constraints imposed on public broadcasting. He stated that, since the first broadcast, the price paid per minute of programming had decreased by 33% in ten years, due to the reduction in public broadcasting resources and the demands placed on producers. Nagui nevertheless pointed out that, despite this 33% decrease, the show had strengthened its artistic resources, with the number of musicians on set doubling and the addition of hype men, who were absent at the program's launch.
A 100 million euro contract
Nagui is one of the best-known figures on television and radio. His company, Air Productions, acquired in 2008 by the Banijay group, also produces several programs for France Télévisions, including Do not forget the lyrics, But also Taratata.
The financial relationships between the broadcaster and the producers are closely monitored. In 2020, it was revealed that a €100 million contract had been signed between France Télévisions and Air Productions for the production, over three years, of several programs, including Do not forget the lyrics et Taratata.
This hearing therefore crystallized several explosive issues at once: the remuneration of presenters-producers, the margins of companies that work with public broadcasting and the concrete conditions of filming.
