The French Tennis player Maxime Hamou made headlines as he tried to kiss a reporter forcibly during a live TV interview. Hamou was being interviewed by female reporter Maly Thomas, a journalist from Eurosport for the show Advantage Leconte. As soon as Thomas started interviewing Hamou, he repeatedly tried to wrap his arm around her, trying to pull her towards him and kiss her. Whereas, despite numerous attempts, the female reporter tried to maintain her distance simultaneously pushing him away from her body.
Thomas was interviewing the 21-year-old after his loss to Pablo Cuevas in the first round on May 30. As the show was going on, the commentators in the studio can be seen laughing and clapping as well. They were taking Hamou’s behaviour sportingly but it did not go down well with French Tennis Federation (FTT).
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FTT takes action
According to The Guardian, FTT issued a statement, “The management of the tournament has decided to revoke Maxime Hamou’s accreditation following his reprehensible behavior with a journalist yesterday,”. Furthermore, there will be a review conducted of the incident. ALSO READ: ICC Champions Trophy 2017: Did Virat Kohli hint Dinesh Karthik replacing Ajinkya Rahane in India vs Pakistan clash?
What the Eurosport reporter has to say?
Thomas describes the incident as ‘frankly unpleasant’, she further expressed her emotions in an interview with Huffingpost France, she said,”If I hadn’t been live on air, I would have punched him.” From her statement, it can be ascertained that she was being professional when Hamou tried to forcibly kiss her. It would not have gone the same way had he attempted a similar action off the camera.
Hamou apologises for forcibly kissing Thomas!
After the initial brain fade, Hamou apologised for his actions, he told the French newspaper l’Equipe, “I want to offer my deepest apologies to Maly Thomas if she felt hurt or shocked by my attitude during her interview. “I just lived a wonderful week here in Roland Garros living my most beautiful emotions as a tennis player, and I let my overflow of enthusiasm express myself awkwardly towards Maly, who I know and sincerely respect. Nothing of all that is written was my intention,”
“I am at her disposal to apologise to her in person if she so wishes. I learn every day from my mistakes to become a better tennis player and a better person,” he added.
Here’s what Eurosport had to say after Hamou’s apology
Though, it seems like the showrunners Eurosport have decided to take a stand against the 287th ranked Tennis player. They issued a statement condemning his act after Hamou’s apology, “We sincerely regret the incident that occurred during yesterday evening’s interview between Maly Thomas and Maxime Hamou,” the statement read. “The behaviour of the interviewee was highly inappropriate and we do not condone such conduct in any way. Maly is a highly respected journalist and we are pleased that a full apology is being offered.”
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