Columnist Anne-Lovely Etienne deplores the hateful and racist messages she has received since she published a letter on Instagram this week addressed to Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge denouncing his controversial video.
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The day after the announcement of the withdrawal of Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge from the animation of Masked singers, Anne-Lovely Etienne says she is pleasantly surprised by this decision.
“I think that TVA made an informed and fair decision,” she said in an exclusive interview with Newspaper.
A widely followed public figure, particularly by the black community in Quebec, she nevertheless deplores the hatred and racist comments of which she, the host Pierre-Yves Lord and the columnist Varda Etienne have been victims since they took a public position in this affair. .
“I woke up to hate messages from trolls. The “N-word” galore, racist comments. Fortunately, I know it’s a minority of people. But it’s a very anxious day,” she confides.
“Hate, you have to expect it. It’s part of this responsibility to take a stand for injustices,” she breathes.
“It was Guillaume himself who created this, not everyone from the black community who spoke out and had nothing to do with his wrongdoing. William has put himself in such a controversial position. To say the opposite is really ignorant,” continues Anne-Lovely Etienne, who does not believe the actor’s excuses.
A question of responsibility
On Instagram Tuesday, several artists and members of the public denounced the hateful message from a man accusing Pierre-Yves Lord and Varda Etienne of being “responsible for the destruction of Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge’s career.”
“I am saddened, disappointed, exhausted for you dear friends. Let us denounce racism loud and clear, always, without putting the burden on those who experience this racism on a daily basis, please,” wrote host Anne-Marie Withenshaw on Instagram.
Anne-Lovely Etienne’s moving letter, which was relayed by dozens of Internet users, “could have been 12 pages long” if she had taken the time to list all the incidents of the kind experienced by members of her community .
“This is an event in addition to all the others, like those that I gave as examples in my letter,” she said.
Anne-Lovely Etienne dreams of a collective conscience. “And that people understand that using the “N-word” in 2024 in Quebec is unacceptable.”
“I just want it to be equal. I want every Quebecer, if we want to live together, to start from the basic principle of respect between men, women, straightmembers of the LGBTQ+ community, whites, blacks, young and old, rich and poor,” she adds.