During a rally of a far-right party Reconquista its leader Eric Zemmour he was against the possibility of performing Aya Nakamura. According to AFP reports, the crowd booed and expressed their opposition every time her name or surname was mentioned.
The protest of an extreme right-wing political organization received the greatest coverage in the French media Les Natifs (Natives)which – referring to the hit of Nakamura, the singer “Djadja” (check!) – hung a banner in the French capital on Sunday with the inscription “No option Aya, this is Paris, not the market in Bamako.”
The photo went viral on social media. The artist herself responded to the natives. “You may be racist, but you are not deaf… It hurts you! I am becoming the No. 1 topic in the country, but what do I really owe you? Nothing,” Nakamura wrote on the X platform.
Politicians and personalities in the French music market opposed racist attacks. Boris Vedel, director of a famous French festival Printemps de Bourgestold AFP: “If we banned French culture from enriching itself with others or those who play with the French language, we would not have Renaud, Brassens and Baudelaire.”
On Monday, the Rodowici organization commented on its Sunday protest. “The French are fundamentally against this choice, because 63% of them oppose Nakamura’s choice, and 73% believe that he does not represent French music (ODOXA poll for RTL),” they wrote on the Instagram platform.
“We are extremely shocked by the recent racist attacks against Aya Nakamura. We fully support the world’s most listened to French artist,” the organizing committee of the Paris Olympics told AFP. The French Minister of Sports also expressed support for the artist Amelie Oudea-Castera.
At the end of February, the daily “L’Express” reported that Nakamura was to perform at the Olympic opening ceremony, singing songs Edith Piaf. The information has not been officially confirmed yet.
Aya Nakamura rose to fame with the song “DjaDja”; on YouTube, the clip for the song has 950 million views. The artist herself has more followers on her Instagram profile (3.8 million) than the president of France Emmanuel Macron.
XXXIII Summer Olympic Games will take place in Paris between July 26 and August 11. This major sporting event raises concerns among Paris residents, who complain, among other things, about: to price increases and chaos in public transport.