New setback for the controversial rapper.
Justice validated on Friday the ban by the Rhône prefecture of a Freeze Corleone concert which was to be held on Saturday evening in Lyon, the day after a similar decision in Lille.
“There is a serious risk that remarks likely to seriously undermine respect for values and principles, particularly the dignity of the human person, (…) will be made,” estimated the city’s administrative court, which had was seized in summary proceedings, in a judgment of which AFP obtained a copy.
The concert “takes place in a tense context particularly with regard to the Jewish community in France, the reality of which the Rhône prefect also demonstrates on a local level,” he added.
Denouncing a “surprising” decision, the rapper’s lawyer, Me Adrien Chartron, immediately announced his intention to refer the matter to the Council of State so that the show could take place.
“Openly anti-Semitic remarks”
The day before, the administrative courts of Lille had also validated the prefectural ban on another performance of the rapper, planned for the same evening in the city.
Seized on appeal in the Lille case, the Council of State did not rule, the time scheduled for this show having been exceeded.
Aged 31, Freeze Corleone, pseudonym of Issa Lorenzo Diakhaté, has been targeted since last week by a preliminary investigation by the Nice prosecutor's office for "apology of terrorism" for a song appearing to evoke the attack on the Promenade des Anglais in 2016 In their respective decrees, the prefectures of Lille and Lyon both point to this piece.
They also point out that the lyrics of several other songs contain “openly anti-Semitic remarks marked with admiration for the person of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich”.
Also read “An openly conspiratorial artist”: who is Freeze Corleone, the rapper who multiplies controversies?
In 2020, Freeze Corleone was already the subject of an investigation, closed without further action, for “provocation of racial hatred” after clips containing lyrics such as “I arrive determined like Adolf in the 1930s” or “ every day RAF (nothing to worry about) the Shoah.”
Denouncing "unacceptable racist comments", his label Universal Music announced the end of their collaboration, which the artist's team denied this week on the X network. The label for its part clarified that legal proceedings is in progress regarding the distribution contract binding them for the album “LMF”, terminated in September 2020.
In recent months, several prefectures had already banned Freeze Corleone concerts.
Administrative justice allowed two dates to be held at the Zénith in Paris in November but validated the ban on another concert near Nantes in December.
This concert is postponed until February 28, pending a decision from the Council of State, which ended up authorizing the rapper to perform in Rennes last March.