A French-Jewish DJ filed criminal complaints after being forced off stage during a performance in Grenoble last week due to audience protests, her lawyer said Thursday.
The performer, known as Butch, lodged complaints in Grenoble and Paris alleging incitement to hatred and violence, assault, and obstruction of artistic freedom, among other charges, according to her lawyer Audrey Msellati.
Video footage from the July 18 concert captured activists from La France Insoumise attempting to push past security while confronting Butch with questions about her presence in Tel Aviv and support for the Yadan bill. Online claims suggested she had attended a gay cultural event in Tel Aviv the previous year, though reporting indicated she did not participate.
The Yadan bill, placed on hold by the ruling coalition earlier this year, proposed addressing overlap between anti-Zionism and antisemitism and giving courts authority to treat anti-Zionist incitement similarly to antisemitic speech.
Jewish and Israeli artists have faced increasing heckling, deplatforming, and removal from stages in France and elsewhere since October 7, 2023, when a Hamas attack on Israel sparked a regional conflict accompanied by a surge in antisemitic incidents and sentiment across Europe and beyond.
Similar incidents have occurred internationally. A Chanukah concert in the Netherlands was canceled last year before being reinstated following legal action by organizers. In Belgium, a municipal venue declined to host the Munich Philharmonic after determining its conductor is Israeli.