Isabelle Saporta, the boss of Fayard, learned on Friday March 8 in the afternoon of her upcoming dismissal, following a meeting with the management of Hachette-Livre, its parent company, Le Monde has learned.
A subsidiary of Lagardère, of which billionaire Vincent Bolloré's Vivendi group took control in November, Hachette-Livre wants the Fayard brand to be shared with Mazarine editions.
Ms. Saporta refused to sign a dual Fayard and Fayard/Mazarine license so that Lise Boell, the new boss of Mazarine, could publish works under the license without referring it to her.
Lise Boëll, 57, who has worked in publishing since 1997, has forged the image of a very right-wing author publisher in the industry, first at Albin Michel, until 2021, then at Plon, until the end of 2023. She is behind the transformation of Eric Zemmour, journalist at Le Figaro, into a successful essayist (“Le Suicide français” in 2014, “Destin français” in 2018, among others). And she is the official editor of another former presidential candidate, Philippe de Villiers, who has a loyal readership.
Mazarine is a publishing house created in 1979 by Éditions Fayard, which itself has belonged to Hachette since 1958. It mainly publishes novels, French and foreign, and a few essays.
