The artist Franck Sylvestre files a lawsuit for damage to his reputation: he considers the comments made about his person and his show to be defamatory Blackbeard’s Incredible Secret which included a black puppet, which its detractors likened to “blackface”.
This court case will look at the concepts of freedom of expression and the protection of reputation.
Mr. Sylvestre continues Alain Babineau, one of the spokespersons for the Coalition rouge organization, which says its mission is to eliminate the practice of racial profiling and systemic racism in Canada. He accuses Mr. Babineau of having damaged his reputation.
Franck Sylvestre, a multidisciplinary Quebec artist of Martinican origin, created a puppet show for children, Blackbeard’s Incredible Secretpresented on stage for several years.
The black puppet that started this whole affair personifies “a Martinican sorcerer”, and is supposed to be a caricature of the artist, the latter says.
This show was selected by the Conseil des arts de Montréal to be presented in the Montreal region in 2023. The artist had concluded contracts with the cities of Pointe-Claire and Beaconsfield.
However, a citizen complained before her presentation and asked that the show be canceled: the affair was then publicized.
On February 24, 2023, two activist organizations, the West Island Black Community Association and the Coalition Rouge, organized a press conference during which they blamed the City of Pointe-Claire for having allowed the presentation of the show and demanded its cancellation, is- he alleged in the legal proceedings which were to be filed at the Montreal courthouse on Wednesday.
“During this press conference, the defendant [Alain Babineau] makes aggressive, vindictive, emotional, virulent, vexatious and defamatory remarks against the applicant, in particular by associating him with a “racist doll”, with black people who support the ideas of white supremacists, with systemic racism and especially with dehumanization of black people, by claiming that he only contributes to this dehumanization and that he participates in the practice of “blackface”, it is alleged, audio recordings in support.
The same day, Mr. Babineau allegedly published four tweets on his Twitter account in which he alleges that the plaintiff is one of the “solds who only think about their own happiness so as not to displease their master”, asserts that his show is “the tear of systemic discrimination” and sarcastically adds that he is “a good black” thereby implying that he is in the service of whites, we can read in the procedure.
Then, the city of Beaconsfield canceled the presentation of the show, as did the Montreal Youth Literature Festival, says Mr. Sylvestre.
He accuses Mr. Babineau of having made defamatory remarks with the intention of harming him. He hasn’t seen the show, he maintains, and doesn’t even know what the puppet represents – despite this, he associates it with “blackface”, he laments.
“He unreasonably associated the plaintiff and his puppet with racism, subjugation of blacks to whites and even white supremacism as well as the dehumanization of blacks, thereby attacking the plaintiff’s reputation and seeking to expose him to hatred and contempt for the public in general and members of the black community in particular. »
Last September, Mr. Babineau was ordered to publish a press release of retraction and to cease any comments damaging to Mr. Sylvestre. He refused, it is alleged.
Mr. Sylvestre is seeking some $26,000 in damages since his professional life was “seriously affected.” » He requests in particular an award of punitive damages for what he calls a “bad faith smear campaign” led by Mr. Babineau “for strictly ideological reasons.” »
“By this appeal, I lay my burden at the foot of justice. And with confidence, I ask him to speak out so that my fundamental rights are respected. That I can return to work with serenity and protected intellectual freedom,” says Mr. Sylvestre. He is supported in this pursuit by the organizations Droits collectives Québec (DCQ) and the Association des Québécois united contre le racialisme (AQUR).