The director of the Francofolies de la Rochelle and the Printemps de Bourges is trying to clear up the controversy surrounding the singer Izïa Higelin. During a concert on July 6, the artist spoke of a lynching of Emmanuel Macron.
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“Izïa is part of the Francofolies family, we love her, that’s why we invited her, it’s not in the turmoil that we abandon the people we love“, confides Wednesday July 12 on franceinfo Gérard Pont, director of Printemps de Bourges and Francofolies de La Rochelle, where Izïa Higelin is to perform on July 12. The director maintains the concert, despite the artist’s controversial performance on July 6. July in Beaulieu-sur-Mer (Alpes-Maritimes), where she imagined the lynching of the president in “giant human piñata“. These remarks, made in front of his audience, triggered the opening of an investigation by the Nice prosecutor’s office, for “public provocation to commit a crime or an offence. In the process, the town hall of Marcq-en-Baroeul (North) decided to cancel the performance scheduled for July 13.
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“Like her father, she sometimes goes into rather improbable improvisations”
“Obviously, I was very shocked by these remarks and I support all our elected officials“, nuance Gérard Pont, but “Izïa explained herself. She says [dans un entretien au journal Ouest France] that her remarks were taken out of context and that she had no intention of inciting hatred and violence. And I believe her“, he assures. For Gérard Pont, it is a “great artist“, Who, “like his father [le chanteur Jacques Higelin], sometimes takes part in somewhat improbable improvisations“.
In 2009, the director of the festival had however canceled the arrival of the rapper Orelsan, after the controversy generated by the violent and sexist lyrics of his song “Saint-Valentin”. A “error“, today recognizes Gérard Pont, before specifying that he did not deprogram the singer for his words, but because of the disturbance to public order that the controversy could have generated: “it’s a family festival, I didn’t want to have CRS on horseback. I deprogrammed for reasons of order, organization, and not at all artistic“, he asserts.