Furriers' union condemned for attacks on the brand ELLE, supported by One Voice
The Lagardère Media News group and its exclusive licensee in France, CMI Digital, were sued for denigration by the French Fur Trade Federation (FFMF) for ELLE magazine’s decision to renounce fur, denounced as a source of suffering for animals. As soon as we learned of this abusive complaint, we lent our support to the group in the face of the furriers’ attempts to muzzle animal defenders and their supporters. Given our fight for the victims of fashion and our commitment to freedom of expression, it was only natural that we should stand by the group during this trial. On May 22, the court in Nanterre ruled in our favor!
The FFMF has suffered a major setback in court. Believing itself all-powerful, to the point of thinking it could attack freedom of expression, and more particularly freedom of the press, with impunity, the lobby was severely put in its place: all its claims, deemed abusive, were rejected. And our voluntary intervention in the case was accepted as fully admissible.
Justice recognizes the link between fur and cruelty
The court in Nanterre ruled that ELLE International’s statement that it wanted to “reject cruelty to animals” by renouncing fur was “measured and devoid of malice”. The court went on to add that “the use of animal fur is the subject of several debates that [the FFMF] cannot ignore” and that “the disputed comments were supported by a more than sufficient factual basis”.
We welcome this decision, which sends out a strong signal in favor of fashion victims and their defenders. In the face of censorship, we will continue to stand by the press, especially those media who dare to speak out about the pain of exploited animals, and who rely on our revelations to do so. Our solidarity in the fight for their freedom of expression is absolute!
Public opinion is with us
In France, our investigations and awareness-raising work contributed to the ban on the production of fur from wild animals, made permanent by the November 2021 law against animal mistreatment. And thanks to the work of the Fur Free Alliance (FFA), of which we are the French representative, and its partners at Eurogroup for Animals, the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) Fur Free Europe has been signed by over 1,500,000 citizens. All are calling for a ban on the production, import and sale of fur within the European Union.
Here, alongside our European partners, but also in China, Russia and North America, we will continue to call for an end to this cruel practice and defend the right to information about it.