Overview
- Festival association annuls its recent selection, launches a new stakeholder-led process with a steering committee to be installed on December 18 and results due June 18, 2026.
- Current operator 9eArt+ will not be recontracted beyond its term ending in 2027, and director Franck Bondoux says he will step back from interfacing with the profession until then.
- Threats of withdrawal from major houses, including Media-Participations imprints, Delcourt and others, plus numerous independent publishers and prominent authors, have not been lifted.
- The SNE says trust with the festival association is broken and urges a strong response from public authorities, as the mayor of Angoulême criticizes a lack of consultation and the 2026 edition remains at risk.
- The crisis follows longstanding allegations against 9eArt+ over financial opacity, over-commercialization and a contested 2024 dismissal linked to a rape complaint that is the subject of a judicial inquiry, with public funders covering roughly half the budget.