At the end of February, our colleagues from L'Express announced that
Aya Nakamura
could, according to Emmanuel Macron's wishes, sing Edith Piaf during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. News which has since triggered, a wave of reactions and attacks targeting the 28-year-old Franco-Malian woman.
To discover
TV tonight: our selection of the day
Hugues Aufray
, guest on the show
“C l’hebdo”
this Saturday March 16 – the broadcast of which will begin from 7 p.m. – was questioned on the subject by Aurélie Casse.
France 5 broadcast an extract from the artist's interview on its social networks this morning.
“It
’s unfair to attack someone for their color, for the shape of their body”
Hugues Aufray on Aya Nakamura
“Hugues Aufray, what do you say to all those who attack Aya Nakamura?”
, asked the presenter to the singer.
“Obviously, I see racism behind that
,” replied the latter.
My role, here and in life, is to defend injustice.
I am not for equality, but for justice.
Equality is not justice and justice is not equality.
And it’s unfair to attack someone for their color, for the shape of their body, etc..”
He continued by making his personal position regarding the singer very clear.
“I defend Aya Nakamura because she is a woman who, in my opinion, is rejected by a category of people who see in her what I do not see
,” he explained.
Aya Nakamura has received, in recent days, the support of other singers like Benjamin Biolay or Patrick Bruel.
The latter, currently on tour, declared this Friday March 15 on BFM TV:
“How would she not represent France?
I would be delighted to hear her sing Édith Piaf.
Plus, she will step out of her comfort zone, it will be a little different from what she does.
And I’m sure she’ll have a lot of fun with it and so will we.”
Also read: Patrick Bruel: “I would be delighted to hear Aya Nakamura sing Édith Piaf”
Conversely, the President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher, had expressed his disapproval regarding the presumed presence of the singer during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
Guest of “Télématin” this Thursday, March 14, he answered Thomas Sotto’s question
“Should this artist represent France on July 26 on Mondovision?”
“
It would not have been my choice, I tell you straight away, even to sing Edith Piaf, it is a somewhat disruptive choice by the President of the Republic
,” he said.
When I look at the text of his songs, I find that we are quite far from the representation of our country.
Also read ““Catchana” is the ode to doggy style”: the outspokenness of Gérard Larcher, invited in “Télématin” to give his opinion on Aya Nakamura
This Friday, March 15, an investigation was opened by the Paris prosecutor's office after a report from Licra denouncing publications of a racist nature targeting Aya Nakamura.
SOS Racisme announced in a press release that it would in turn take legal action, denouncing
“waves of racist hatred against Aya Nakamura”
and citing as an example the dissemination last weekend on social networks of a banner from the identity collective Les Natifs.
On this banner was written:
“There’s no way Aya, this is Paris, not the Bamako market”
.