France, April 19 -- "Grasset will continue, and those who are leaving will allow new authors to be published, promoted, recognised and appreciated," Bollore wrote in an opinion piece published in the Sunday paper Journal du Dimanche (JDD), which forms part of his stable.

He described the writers who left Grasset as a "small clique that thinks it is above everything and everyone, and that promotes and supports its own".

Around 170 authors have quit the publishing house since Thursday, including novelists Virginie Despentes, Frederic Beigbeder and Vanessa Springora, and philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy.

The trigger was the sudden departure of Grasset's chief editor Olivier Nora, who had run the imprint for 26 years - long be...