Patrick Poivre Darvor

French journalist, a reporter with France-Inter, 1971-‘74, head of the political department, 1975-‘76, Assistant editor, 1976-‘83 and 8:00 PM news anchor (Antenne2, 1976-83). An editorial writer at France-Inter, 1979-81, Poivre was Anchor of TF1’s 8:00 PM Journal télévisé from 1987 and Assistant director of the news (TF1, 1989+). He was host and producer of Ex-Libris (TF1, from 1988 winning numerous ‘’7 d’Or’’ awards. He was the author of successful novels that included "Two Lovers," 1984, "The Women of My Life," 1988 and the story of his anorexic daughter Solenn, who committed suicide, "Letter to an Absent One," 1992. He married 4/03/1971; five kids ; Dorothee, Arnaud, Tifaine (deceased), Solenn (deceased) and Morgane. His daughter Solenn had been born exactly a year after the death of her sister Tifaine at the age of three months, and was later buried next to the infant sister. Solenn suffered from anorexia from 1992 on, so severe that when she was hospitalized in October 1992, her dad said that she weighed 31 kg (68 lbs). Solenn threw herself on the subway train tracks on 1/27/1995, 3:03 PM MET and died four hours later at the hospital. On 12/16/1991, on TF1’s 8:00 PM news broadcast, Poivre declared that he had interviewed Fidel Castro in Cuba a few days earlier. It turned out he had not been to Cuba and had staged a false meeting using other journalist’s questions. A huge protest by the French media was cut short two weeks later, on December 28, when a press release by TF 1 stated that they were bound to deontology and shocked that some media tried to discredit one of their best journalists. Poivre's life was touched by scandal when he was accused of being a beneficiary in the Buton case. In 1988 and 1989, Poivre traveled by plane in Europe, to the Caribbean, to the Bermudas and elsewhere with tickets paid by Botton's company, and used Botton's private helicopter to travel to his cottage in Brittany during week-ends. At the same time, Poivre invited Michel Noir to appear on his TV show. Even Jacques Chirac, who was not president at that time, was angry to see this man so often on TV. Although TF1 journalists were disgusted, the news editor did not criticize Poivre in any way. Poivre said that Pierre Botton was a friend, that it was normal to have gifts from a friend and that he never did anything to earn this money. However Poivre was indicted on 2/05/1993: the judge found he received more than 500 000 F ($100,000 in U.S. dollars) of benefits. Fifteen witnesses swore that they had dinner with Poivre and Pierre Botton, explaining that the journalist used his fame to help Botton sign contracts. Three days later, on February 8, Poivre anchored the news and in a press release TF1 stated that he had all their trust. In March, Poivre was given a 15-month suspended sentence and was fined 200 000 F (40,000 US $). The same day, in a press release TF 1 stated again that it kept it’s faith in Poivre, who will keep his responsibilities and produce shortly a special show for the presidential elections. Although his popularity remains intact (43 percent ratings), his credibility has been ravaged. Link to Wikipedia biography