Last spring, French comics artists had hoped that the association of Angoulême International Comics Festival (FIBD) had finally come to its senses by terminating its contract with 9èmeArt+ and launching its call for projects. It must be said that 9èmeArt+ had clearly crossed the line.
It's worth recalling that the January 2025 investigation in L'Humanité not only highlighted some major management issues (toxic management, opaque accounting, suspicions of nepotism, and a decline in the quality of artistic offerings), but above all: an employee of 9èmeArt+ – Chloé* – had been raped by one of the contractors during the 2024 FIBD, and Franck Bondoux had simply fired her for gross misconduct, for "behavior incompatible with the company's image," as soon as she filed a complaint against the contractor in question..
The revelation sent shockwaves through the industry. It must be said that for the past 10 years, since the denunciations by the BdEgalité collective and the 2016 boycott (against the list of 30 nominees without women), Bondoux's public statements, and the scandals every year, too often linked to sexist issues and even sexual violence, the situation had been reaching a breaking point.
With the profession already at its wits' end with the festival conditions (both professionally and in terms of the public and the venues), one might wonder if we all suffer from Stockholm syndrome, returning there every year. It was in this context that, in January, we learned that 9èmeArt+ and Bondoux had committed an unforgivable betrayal and sent a clear message to all women: if a rape victim speaks out, she will lose everything.
Last January, one could say that the Chloé* case was the straw, the "last drop that makes the vessel overflow" as we say in French. But I believe it goes further: this case shattered the vessel. This container doesn't exist anymore, there can no longer be an Angoulême Festival as we have accepted it, with ever-increasing contempt and violence (moral, opportunistic, financial, physical, legal...), there can no longer be 9èmeArt+.
The comicbook artists and a good number of the unions, collectives, and publishing houses present have said STOP. The signs on the booths last January, and all the messages on social media, echoed the same sentiment: Chloé*, we believe you. It was this momentum that united peopleand enabled the call to boycott FIBD 2026 if the FIBD association did not renounce its contract with 9ème Art+. More than 2,000 professionals and several organizations signed the boycott petition and want 9ème Art+ to withdraw..
Throughout the year, we witnessed attempts and maneuvers by Bondoux to maintain his company's position, as well as despicable attempts by certain organizations and other partners to negotiate. Where we spoke of rape and violence, they talked about economics. The SNAC BD (union of comic book artists) left the negotiating table, while the major publishing groups continued preparing their booths as if nothing had happened. Today, Saturday, November 8th, the FIBD association officially renewed 9èmeArt+'s contract for another nine years, ignoring our demands and sending the same message as Bondoux did: yes, if a rape victim speaks out, she will lose everything, and the Angoulême Festival will continue to partner with the company that fired her.
But these people haven't understood that they have just signed the death warrant for this festival.
Authors are the soul of our community—the first cog in what these people like to call "economics"—and we began to rise up by the dozens against violence ten years ago. This year, hundreds of us are saying that we will not be complicit. We will not come; we will remain united and in solidarity. We don't need the FIBD; the FIBD needs us.
The call for a boycott launched by STAA and MeTooBD stems from a clear principle. In recent years, we have tried to negotiate and warn, but now the red line has been crossed. And we refuse to continue our work there at the expense of victims of sexual violence. Never.
Personally, I don't understand how anyone can know all this and decide to continue occupying a booth at the Angoulême International Comics Festival (FIBD), while 9èmeArt+ remains in charge and the FIBD association doesn't see the problem. Letting these decision-makers and our audience think that we will continue to occupy a booth, when the red line has been crossed, sends a very serious message to all victims of sexual violence. And it would also send the message to 9èmeArt+ and the FIBD that they can do worse, we will surely continue to come.
Actually, NO.
Let's all refuse to be complicit in this type of festival.
