French tennis player kicked out of French Open for kissing journalist during post-match interview
21-year-old French tennis player Maxime Hamou has had his accreditation for the French Open revoked by the French Tennis Federation for kissing a female journalist on Monday.
After losing to 23rd-ranked Pablo Cuevas in the first round, the 287th-ranked Hamou put his arm around Eurosport's Maly Thomas and continuously kissed her on the cheek throughout the interview.
During the interview, the anchors in the studio laughed while Thomas tried to pull away.
Here was the interview:
Thomas told Huffington Post France, "If it had not been live on air, I would have punched him." She called the incident "unpleasant" and said it should not be "trivialized." Thomas also said she did not take the laughter from her colleagues in the studio personally, saying she knows they support her.
The FTF called Hamou's behavior "reprehensible" and said it is investigating the incident.