Marseilles. The announcement of the suspension of Pierre-Olivier Costa was welcomed “with relief” by museum agents, according to the CGT section of the Museum of Civilizations and the Mediterranean (Mucem). This national museum located in Marseille has been experiencing a very tense situation for more than two years due to the deterioration of relations between its agents and management. To this has been added since the end of 2025 an accusation of sexual and moral harassment against Pierre-Olivier Costa. According to the CGT, a Mucem executive contacted the anti-harassment unit of the Ministry of Culture in October 2025, and informed the general administrator of the museum, Véronique Haché. He also allegedly filed a handrail without filing a complaint. The museum management would have done nothing to support the supposed victim, who is currently on sick leave. Véronique Haché, also suspended by the ministry, had nevertheless been confronted with a similar crisis during the Baupin affair at Paris City Hall in 2016. Last February, the ministry made a report to the prosecutor under article 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which led to the opening of a preliminary investigation on March 17. For his part, Pierre-Olivier Costa disputes the accusations, and he declared that he was not aware of any complaint against him.
Brutal team management
In addition to these accusations of harassment, the entire context of work at Mucem is revealed “deleterious”, because agents and unions denounce the working conditions and brutal team management. Appointed in 2022, Pierre-Olivier Costa had promised efficiency in the face of the drop in attendance at the museum, and had appointed two advisors including Françoise Pams, responsible for programming and celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Mucem. His appointment was seen as “a sign of favoritism” by the unions because the president knew her from the Center Pompidou, where she directed communications (2008-2013) while he himself was chief of staff (2007-2011). Agents and unions have denounced from 2023 its management which would be similar to “parallel operation” to that of the team responsible for programming, and decisions taken without consultation, a grievance expressed again during the unprecedented strike of 2024. In September 2024, occupational medicine sent a letter to the ministry which warned of the psychosocial risks at the Mucem, including the chronic stress of agents. In response, the Mucem management had mandated an external firm for an audit carried out in 2025, an audit never distributed to museum agents. The report of the General Inspectorate of Cultural Affairs of June 2026, which has not been made public, would point out, among other things, management problems. According to the media blastmore than a quarter of Mucem employees would have left the establishment between 2022 and 2024, including the scientific director, as specified in the CGT section of the museum.
Pierre-Olivier Costa arrived at Mucem after a stint at the Élysée as special advisor to President Macron then as his wife’s chief of staff. He had previously been stationed at Paris City Hall under Bertrand Delanoë then Anne Hidalgo, where he worked alongside Véronique Haché. His mandate was renewed by Emmanuel Macron in November 2025 when the accusations of harassment were not yet known in high places. The four-month precautionary suspension lasts until early November; in the meantime the Mucem is headed by Anne-Marie Le Guevel, general inspector of cultural affairs.
