In June 2010, Joly was sent a court summons by Nadine Berthélémy-Dupuis, an investigating magistrate in Paris, following a legal complaint from David Douillet, a national member of parliament from France's then-ruling UMP party.
During her 2012 presidential campaign, Joly led reporters on a tour of sites linked to bad publicity or sleaze allegations around then-president Nicolas Sarkozy.