President and General Manager of MuCEM Marseilles Suspended Following Misconduct Allegations
5July 2, 2026
Pierre-Olivier Costa, the president of the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations (MuCEM) inMarseilles, France, has been suspended from his position following allegations of sexual and moral harassment. The general manager of the museum, Véronique Haché, has also been suspended; both suspensions will last a maximum of four months. As of July 2nd, Anne-Marie Le Guével of the General Inspectorate of Cultural Affairs (IGAC) has taken over as interim president.
In March, the IGAC filed an audit against the museum after taking note of rising tensions that have plagued the institution since Costa’s appointment in 2022. The resultant IGAC report was eventually filed to Catherine Pégard, Minister of Culture of France.
Costa was formerly chief of staff to Emmanuel Macron during the president’s election campaign, before becoming chief of staff to Brigitte Macron, the First Lady of France, from 2017 to 2022.
In March of 2023, MuCEM reception workers went on strike, citing low wages and sexism. In December of the same year, MuCEM staffers wrote an open letter – addressed to Costa and posted to the news site Marsactu – which denounced his leadership. “Staff are working under immense pressure,” the letter reads in part; “constantly subjected to changes in projects and organizing teams, through orders, counter-orders, rumors and gossip, and demeaning and denigrating remarks.”
These are “symptoms of a profound disregard for the work previously carried out collectively,” the letter continues. In 2024, the Sud (Solidaires Unitaires Démocratiques) culture union at MuCEM filed a strike notice for Friday, June 21st, citing continually “toxic” management.
In October of 2025, a MuCEM employee filed a complaint of sexual harassment against Costa. Speaking with Le Monde, Costa has categorically denied the accusations. The complainant, a manager who joined the museum in 2024 and who has since gone on sick leave, more generally complained of psychological harassment from management in the same filing.
The complainant’s allegations led the Ministry of Culture to file a complaint with the courts in mid-February. Then, on March 17th, the Marseille prosecutor’s office launched a preliminary criminal investigation into the complainant’s allegations. Costa’s lawyer, Marie Geoffroy, told the Art Newspaper that the police have not interviewed Costa and that her client has no knowledge of the criminal investigation.
News of Costa’s having been suspended “provoked cries of joy in the offices,” Léonore Branche, a representative of the Sud union, told the Art Newspaper. The four month suspension period, Branche added, “is purely symbolic, as there is no way the staff would accept” the return of either Costa or Haché.