An exchange on X between Jean-Michel Aulas and the environmental vice-president of the Metropolis of Lyon sparked a lively controversy. In question: comments made by Fabien Bagnon, that the former president of OL logically judges “Abjects” et “Unworthy.”
It all started with a message published by Jean-Michel Aulas reacting to the proliferation of tags in the city of Lyon. On X (ex-owner), the one who has been feeding rumors of candidacy for the next municipal elections for several months : “@Gregorydoucet it’s very just the real Lyonnais are ashamed of what is happening: but it is true you have to be Lyonnais (of birth, work, heart) to understand this disenchantment which turns angry!”
But finally, how far will the baseness go? @Fabien_bagnon elected representative of the Republic, compare @JM_Aulas To those who destroyed Europe by hatred and barbarism. It is an infamy. An absolute shame. A crossing of all limits. It’s no longer politics, it’s… https://t.co/72rjn7ve63
– Edouard Hoffmann (@UNDHOpofficish) July 28, 2025
Fabien Bagnon, vice-president in charge of roads and active mobility in the metropolis, reacted strongly:“When we start talking about real Lyonnais, we quickly manage to talk about real French or real Germans. Definitely Jean-Michel Aulas is very very wide on the right.”
“The red line”
Words that immediately made Jean-Michel Aulas jump. In a long message published in return this Monday, July 28, he said he was “Stunned by Fabien Bagnon’s words “, Adding:“Compare my attachment to Lyonnais to a Nazi drift, make the amalgamation between the love of a city and the darkest hours of our history is to cross a red line.”
The former OL leader continues:“It is abject, it is unworthy, it is insulting for all those who have experienced resistance, and for all those who continue to believe that public debate imposes a minimum of decency.”
Before recalling: “My parents were left -wing republican teachers, rooted in the secular and resistant tradition of Lyon. This memory, I received it as an inheritance. “
Jean-Michel Aulas asks the mayor of Lyon and the president of the metropolis to position himself: “I ask @gregorydoucet to denounce these words. I ask @brunobernard_fr to condemn them and take responsibility.”
According to him, “A vice-president cannot impunity with such accusations. It is no longer a slippage, but a moral sinking. The silence of the @villeonon and the @Grandlyon would be approved. And I will not be.”
Thus, Jean-Michel Aulas does not intend to stop there. Fabien Bagnon would no doubt have done better to stay in his comfort zone: mobility, and more particularly, cycle paths.
I am amazed by the words of Fabien Bagnon. Compare my attachment to Lyonnais to a Nazi drift, amalgamate between the love of a city and the darkest hours of our history is to cross a red line. It’s abject, it’s unworthy, it’s insulting for …
-Jean-Michel Classes (@JM_Aulas) July 28, 2025