RMC Fires Columnist Mehdi Ghezzar Over Controversial Morocco Comments

The RMC columnist was ousted this Wednesday for his hostile remarks against Morocco, which he described as a "rogue state" and accused, among other things, of being "a refuge for major drug dealers, prostitution, pedophilia and child kidnapping," during his participation in a program broadcast on August 25 on the Algerian channel AL24.

"Following the unacceptable remarks made by Mehdi Ghezzar on a foreign television channel, the management of RMC and Les Grandes Gueules have decided to terminate Mehdi Ghezzar’s participation in the program," RMC announced this Wednesday, in a statement read live by Alain Marschall, one of the hosts of "Les Grandes Gueules". "RMC and the hosts of Les Grandes Gueules dissociate themselves from these remarks made in a personal capacity. They do not correspond to the values of RMC and Les Grandes Gueules," the note specifies.

Mehdi Ghezzar’s statements sparked a strong controversy on social media. Eric Ciotti, president of the Les Républicains party, was one of the first to react to these remarks, calling for the immediate suspension of the columnist for his "infamous remarks against the Kingdom of Morocco".