Mucem president Pierre-Olivier Costa provisionally suspended

Marseille – 01.07.2026: The French Ministry of Culture has, at his own request, provisionally suspended the president of the Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée (Mucem), Pierre-Olivier Costa, with immediate effect. The order is effective from 1 July 2026 and was published in a short note from the Rue de Valois; the suspension is initially temporary, and the ministry did not provide legal details.

The decision follows an ongoing police preliminary investigation since March into allegations of sexual and moral harassment and an administrative review by the Inspektion générale des affaires culturelles (IGAC). The Parquet de Marseille opened a preliminary inquiry on 17 March 2026; the background is several complaints from staff and internal reports about the working climate at the institution.

Pierre-Olivier Costa, who previously served as director of the cabinet of Brigitte Macron and in various roles in Paris municipal and party politics, was appointed president of the Mucem at the end of November 2022 and again confirmed by an appointment in November 2025. Under his leadership, there have been repeated tensions with staff representatives in recent years; already at the end of June, unions and a majority of the workforce had demanded his temporary suspension in letters.

The Mucem is a public-law museum under ministry supervision with a board of directors whose chair is de jure the president. In the Ministry of Culture’s statement, the measure was justified as aiming to “restore confidence and revive social dialogue in the institution.” The museum emphasized in its own statement that Costa accepted the decision and wanted to facilitate internal work.

Legally, the suspension remains a provisional measure; criminal responsibility has not yet been established. The IGAC and the public prosecutor’s office are conducting investigations independently of each other; staff and the interim management now face the task of institutionally securing exhibitions, personnel management and ongoing projects.

For the Mucem, which as a national cultural institute plays an important role in Marseille and in the cultural-political network of the Mediterranean region, the decision means a period of increased external oversight and interim management. Observers point out that the next formal decision will depend on the severity of the investigation findings and may, if necessary, have personnel or administrative law consequences.