The makers of French game show ‘Fort Boyard’ have filed a complaint against a YouTuber who snuck into the iconic 19th-century fort without permission.
The trespasser in the case is Max Von Croft, an urban explorer who specializes in “infiltrating” closed and abandoned locations and makes videos about his journeys.
The fort, where the popular program is filmed, was built to repel foreign invaders under the order of Napoleon. The show involves teams of contestants competing for a prize by completing various physical challenges inside the circular structure that sits surrounded by water near Oleron Island off the French Atlantic coast.
Von Croft visited the fort in September when it was empty in between the show’s production seasons. He posted a video of himself exploring the historic citadel in May.
According to the newspaper Le Parisien, security at the fort has since been boosted, while Von Croft was summoned by police at the beginning of summer.
Adventure Line Production (ALP), the company behind the show, said on Thursday that nothing was damaged or stolen at Fort Boyard.
“The primary goal of our complaint is to set an example and, above all, dissuade others from having the same idea,” ALP stated. “We want to avoid potential dramas in the future. We don’t want to find a dead body in the fort.”
Von Croft insists that he did nothing wrong. “I don’t encourage anyone to repeat what I did,” the explorer told Le Parisien.
“When someone climbs the Eiffel Tower, we don’t blame them for inciting people to do the same … My goal is not to make the production company angry, but to give a performance.”
The YouTuber’s trial will take place later this month.