Not “universal” enough: two actors from “Scènes de Ménages” fired by M6, the actress denounces racist reasons

In an investigation published on September 26, 2024, Médiapart reveals the reasons for the departure of Louise and Jalil, a couple from the show Scènes de ménages broadcast on M6. Several testimonies report that the couple was dismissed for racist reasons.

As revealed by MédiapartThis September 26, Louise and Jalil, played by Claudia Mongumu and Ryad Baxx, learned on July 3 that they would not be returning to the set of Scènes de ménages, although they thought they would stay there for at least ten years.

“M6 and the production company Kabo Family confirm that they have, “by mutual agreement, decided to make editorial changes to “Scènes de ménages” by reducing the number of couples in the series””, revealed Télé Magazine at the beginning of the summer.

“Find a lie no matter what”

The communication department of M6 and the production company Kabo Family asked them not to spread the news while promising them “other projects”, specifies Médiapart. A fake press release was even written in their name, indicating that the actors were stopping the series to focus on other projects. A press release that Claudia Mongumu and Ryad Baxx refused to sign.

M6 and Kabo Family then insisted: “We have to find a lie no matter what”, the communications manager told them, urging them to “not say that (they were) fire".

Not enough "universal"

But the reasons for this forced eviction would be completely different, according to our colleagues. A producer of Kabo Family and the director of fiction of the M6 ​​group, Quentin de Revel, would have explained to them during a meeting of which Médiapart obtained the recordings that the couple of the two actors did not tell “something sufficiently universal” and that viewers did not identify with them.

For the two managers, the drop in the series' audience figures was even due to the two racialized actors.

For Claudia Mongumu, on the other hand, this decision actually hides a very present racism: “Not only are none of us white, but our origins mean that we have to play scenes, at family gatherings for example, with several black and Arab actors. And that may be a lot for a network that thinks that not being white means not being universal.”

The two actors are made invisible? M6 defends itself

According to several employees working on the series, the couple's Algerian and Congolese origins have actually been a problem for the network from the beginning. The couple was even apparently made invisible during trailers and excerpts of their appearances were rarely broadcast on social media.

A situation denounced several times via emails, messages and press attachés by the actors since 2022.

The channel, for its part, refuted any accusation of racism, taking as an example the couple Audrey Lamy – Loup-Denis Elion, of Congolese origin. In a press release, M6 also indicated that there was “never any intention to “invisibilize” the actors: “To imply that M6 did not wish to support the couple played by Claudia Mongumu and Ryad Baxx for racial reasons is therefore completely false,” the channel said in a press release.

According to the channel, the lack of success of the episodes was due to “to the writing of situations or staging”.