The president of the European and Mediterranean Civilisations’ Museum (Mucem) in Marseille, Pierre-Olivier Costa, and his number two, the general manager Véronique Haché, have been suspended from their positions. The move comes two months after a report understood to detail rising discontent at the museum was submitted to the French culture minister Catherine Pégard, and three months after accusations of sexual and moral harassment were brought against Costa—allegations he denies.
Pégard announced Costa’s departure on 30 June, explaining her decision was based on a wish to “resume the social dialogue and restore a climate of trust in the museum”. Anne-Marie Le Guével, from the General Inspectorate of Cultural Affairs (IGAC), which presented the report, has taken over as Mucem’s interim president. Le Guével arrived a day later in Marseille to announce to the staff that Haché was also suspended.
The news came as a surprise as Costa is a protégé of the French president Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte. Costa was Brigitte Macron’s chief of staff when he was hired by Mucem in November 2022; before that, he had been an advisor to Macron and served on several bodies, including the Paris city council, the Centre Pompidou and the Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée (CNC). Léonore Branche, a representative of the leading union Sud, told The Art Newspaper that the news of Costa”s suspension “provoked cries of joy in the offices”.
The six elected representatives of the Mucem staffbase immediately “welcomed a decision” to suspend Costa numerous, citing several actions that had taken place since 2023, “including a day of strike in June 2024 which was followed by two-thirds of the staff denouncing toxic management [in an open letter]”. In March of this year, IGAC began its audit of the museum. The audit revealed rising tension and anxiety among the staff, a ministry source says.
Also in March, Mucem registered a complaint by an employee, now on medical leave, who alleges he was sexually and morally harassed by the director. Costa’s lawyer, Marie Geoffroy, says that he denies any wrongdoing and has filed a complaint for "malicious accusation" against the employee who made the sexual misconduct allegations.
The allegations were forwarded to the local district attorney’s office, who opened a preliminary criminal investigation in March. Geoffrey says that Costa has no knowledge of the criminal investigation and has not been interviewed by police.
On 30 June, a local member of the French parliament, Hendrik Davi, pressed the district attorney to “act swiftly, fearing that the matter could be hushed up due to the close ties of the director with the presidential couple”.
In a statement, Costa denied his suspension is “in any way a sanction”. He also says that he “had no access” to the report submitted to Pégard.
Officially, the suspensions are valid for a maximum of four months, leaving the pair time to prepare their defence, according to a source close to Pégard.
However, Branche says “this is purely symbolic, as there is no way the staff would accept [their] return”.