New revelations have intensified scrutiny of French podcaster Guillaume Pley after Le Monde published messages he sent in 2011 to a 14-year-old girl, in which he proposed a threesome and used sexually explicit language. Pley, then 26 and hosting a radio show on NRJ, sent the Facebook messages while the recipient was a minor, the investigation found. The woman, now 28, said she was impressed but not under his control at the time.
Pley acknowledged on Instagram that the messages were "clearly inappropriate". Former colleagues denied that staff sent the messages on his behalf. The disclosures follow earlier investigations into Pley's management of his podcast network Legend, including allegations of toxic workplace pressure and inappropriate conduct toward young women. Co-host Ragnar Le Breton has withdrawn from Legend's upcoming arena tour.
Legend, launched in 2023, claims eight million monthly listeners and over 70 million euros in revenue.