Far-right French political party Front National (FN) have declared they will sue Madonna for displaying a giant picture of the party’s leader with a swastika on her forehead. The image appeared during the US singer’s concert in Paris at the Stade de France on Saturday, part of her 80 date world tour.
Front National vice-president Florian Phillipot has said that the party cannot accept “such an odious
comparison”. The lawsuit will be filed this week, report the BBC.
The image of Front National leader Marine Le Pen appeared as part of a video accompanying the song ‘Nobody Knows Me’, which also depicted well-known figures and leaders such as Pope Benedict, Sarah
Palin and Chinese leader Hu Jintao. Le Pen’s face appeared with the Nazi symbol imposed upon her
forehead directly before an image resembling Adolf Hitler appeared onscreen.
It’s not the first time the video had been used – it had already made an outing as part of Madonna’s
MDNA world tour, first appearing at a concert in Tel Aviv in May. Le Pen apparently warned that if the video were to appear in France she would start legal proceedings against Madonna, warning “If she tries that in France, we’ll see what happens.”
Since taking over leadership of the Front National 18 months ago, Marine Le Pen has risen to
prominence by attempting to rid the party of its xenophobic, Nazi-sympathising image (the party has often been linked with Holocaust denial). Le Pen’s tactics have proven successful – the Front National won 17.9% of the country’s votes in the first round of this year’s presidential election, putting them third overall in their biggest success to date.
The Guardian reported that FN vice-president Florian Phillipot has suggested that Madonna’s most
recent attempt at provocation is a cynical attempt to “get more people to her concerts” and that by
taking legal action against the star “Marine Le Pen is defending her honour, but also that of party
members and supporters and the millions of Front National voters.”
