Brazilian journalist and TV presenter José Luiz Datena, a candidate for mayor of São Paulo, assaulted an opponent with an iron chair during a live debate Sunday evening.
The assault left rival candidate Pablo Marçal with a broken rib, according to statements from the candidate’s team to local media. Marçal’s team filed a complaint against Datena with the local police on Monday morning over the incident.
Datena, representing the center-left Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), and Marçal of the conservative Brazilian Labour Renewal Party (PRTB) are two of the ten candidates running for mayor of São Paulo in the October 6 municipal elections. Sunday saw six of the candidates hold a live debate broadcast on the Brazilian public television channel TV Cultura.
The Brazilian news network Jovem Pan reported that the tensions between both candidates began when Marçal questioned Datena about his candidacy, accusing him of “clowning around” and insinuating that he would drop out of the race. Datena has dropped out of four different electoral races between 2016 and 2022. CNN Brasil reported in July that Datena “compared” himself to U.S. President Joe Biden, who dropped out of the 2024 U.S. presidential race that month, and asked, “If Biden can withdraw, why can’t I?”
Datena responded to Marçal by calling him a “little thug,” in reference to Marçal’s conviction for grand larceny in 2010. Marçal was convicted for his alleged involvement with a gang that stole money from its victims using fraudulent bank websites and computer malware in 2005; he was 18 years old at the time. The sentence was overturned in 2018 after passing the statute of limitations.
Marçal, during a prior segment in the debate, also referenced sexual harassment accusations against Datena that surfaced in 2019. At the time, local news reporter Bruna Drews formally accused Datena of sexual harassment. Datena sued Drews for defamation and, months later, she withdrew the accusations.
Datena reportedly said during the debate that he “would not forgive” Marçal for accusing him of sexual harassment.
According to Jovem Pan, the conflict escalated when Marçal called Datena a “tough guy” and mentioned an alleged incident in a previous debate in which Datena had tried to assault him.
“Brazil wants to know, São Paulo wants to know [when Datena would drop out],” Marçal reportedly said during the debate. “You are a ‘scumbag.’ You came into the debate these days to slap me, which you wanted to do. You are not even man enough to do that.”
Datena, in response, picked up a chair and beat Marçal over the head with it.
Journalist Leão Serva, who served as the debate’s moderator, called for a commercial break during the assault. When the debate returned, Serva announced that Datena had been expelled from the debate – but organizers also chastised Marçal for his alleged insulting language. Marçal was taken to the Sírio-Libanês Hospital for medical attention.
Serva apologized on behalf of TV Cultura shortly after the incident, describing it as “one of the most unpleasant scenes in the history of Brazilian television.”
“We didn’t imagine that with all the rules, aggression could happen. It’s very regrettable,” Serva said.
Marçal’s team told local media that the candidate now has a fractured rib and a dislocated finger. At press time, the Sírio-Libanês hospital has not released a public report on the candidate’s condition. Marçal’s lawyer Tassio Renam filed a complaint on behalf of Marçal against Datena on Monday morning for bodily harm and slander.
“We have taken the necessary measures to hold candidate Datena accountable. We have charged him with bodily harm and also with slander, because he said some unnecessary words after hitting him,” Renam told reporters after filing the complaint at a local police Precinct in São Paulo.
“The incident was recorded, and I showed a video from a different angle. Datena hit Pablo twice and then he picked up another chair and struck him again,” he continued. “The first hit his arm, and he has difficulty moving his thumb. And then he hit his rib, which is a large bruise. I requested a forensic examination, and we will have those images tomorrow.”
Datena said that he “does not regret” assaulting Marçal in an interview shortly after his expulsion from the debate and claimed that he “lost control” after Marçal mentioned the 2019 sexual harassment accusations. Datena stated that the exhaustion from the accusations led to the death of his mother-in-law.
“I felt all of this coming back to me and I couldn’t contain myself. Am I wrong? I am. But what can I do? It’s over,” Datena said.
The candidate stated that he maintains his candidacy “until the end” but pointed out that his future depends on the Brazilian Social Democracy Party.
Marçal published a photo on his Instagram account on Sunday evening comparing his assault to the assassination attempts against former U.S. President Donald Trump in July and on Sunday and former Brazilian conservative President Jair Bolsonaro in 2018.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
