Nakamura’s possible appearance at the Olympics sparks racism controversy
French investigators have opened an inquiry over alleged racism against French-Malian pop superstar Aya Nakamura following reports she might perform at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, prosecutors said.
The probe follows the filing of a complaint by the France-based International League against Racism and Antisemitism (LICRA), they said. The 28-year-old superstar born in the Malian capital in 1995 into a family of traditional Malian musicians, she came to the Paris region as a child and became a French citizen in 2021.
The French-Malian singer has conquered the world RnB scene with her songs Pookie, Copine and Djadja. The latter has more than 950 million views on YouTube. Her latest album, DNK, released in January 2023, is certified platinum. The alleged racist abuse began after media reports said the singer had discussed the possibility of performing a song by 20th-century icon Edith Piaf at a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron last month, though neither party has confirmed it.
Depuis plusieurs jours, Aya Nakamura est victime de vagues de haine raciste impulsées par l’extrême droite. SOS Racisme a saisi la justice afin qu’elle poursuive les faits d’incitation à la discrimination et de cyberharcèlement à caractère raciste dont l’artiste a été victime.1/2 pic.twitter.com/t0oAZ1tbKY
— SOS Racisme – #NonAuRacisme (@SOS_Racisme) March 15, 2024
At a campaign rally on Sunday for the Reconquest party, led by far-right former presidential candidate Eric Zemmour, Nakamura’s name drew boos from the crowd. A small extremist group, the Natives, hung a banner by the River Seine that read: “There’s no way Aya. This is Paris, not the Bamako market.”
RN leader Marine Le Pen on Wednesday denounced the possibility of Aya Nakamura singing at the opening of the Olympic Games, claiming that Emmanuel Macron wanted to “divide” and “humiliate” the French. “This is another provocation by Emmanuel Macron,” she said. SOS Racism, another group battling discrimination, said on X that it had also filed an official complaint over “acts of incitement to discrimination and racist cyberbullying” against the artist. It said she had been “the victim of waves of racist hate driven by the far right”.
Peu importe comme on vous aime, chère @AyaNakamuraa, foutez-vous du monde entier 🎵😉
Avec vous 💜💪 https://t.co/cYev9S3u3b
— Amélie Oudéa-Castéra (@AOC1978) March 10, 2024
The Olympics organising committee told AFP on Monday that it had been “very shocked” by the backlash against the singer, and Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera also expressed her support on X. Nakamura said that said she was grateful. “Thanks for the support, especially to my community,” she posted on X. “I feel like I made you discover Edith Piaf and she has been reincarnated in me.”
Speaking on behalf of the African Olympic and Sports Movement, ANOCA President, Mustapha Berraf, President of the Olympafrica Foundation, strongly voiced his total support for French singer, Aya Nakamura. Berraf vigorously condemns racist attacks that “portray another time and another world, other than that of progress, modernity and love of humanity”.