Dieudonné and Francis Lalanne should give a show in September in Paris. Faced with the risk of a ban which weighs heavily, the duo anticipates.
The duo is unlikely. Yet he could well find himself on a stage in front of thousands of people. Dieudonné and Francis Lalanne could appear together at the Zénith de Paris during an unprecedented show on Thursday, September 14, 2023. A “meeting between two sacred monsters, one of humor the other of poetry”, according to the presentation posted on the venue’s website. On the script side, “Francis in the role of the “Joker”, the sad and disillusioned clown confronted with the ordinary madness of the characters interpreted by Dieudonné.” But the announcement of this date aroused strong reactions.
It must be said that Dieudonné is a particularly divisive personality, multi-convicted for public and anti-Semitic insults, defamation, incitement to discrimination, racial or religious hatred or violence, contestation of crimes against humanity or even apology for terrorism . For his part, Francis Lalanne had taken positions opposed to vaccination against Covid-19 during the pandemic, not without attracting anger.
While the organization of this show caused a major stir, Dieudonné anticipated possible censorship. The comedian has already seen one of his dates be canceled by prefectural decision, at the last moment. This time, the announcement of the show was made in advance to try to counter any bans. “Mr. M’Bala M’Bala has always been in a defensive position, now it’s the opposite. The last minute bans from the Prefecture of Police will be cleared up beforehand”, explained his lawyer, Me Emmanuel Ludot , at News Paris.
With Le Parisien, he details his strategy: “Before, he (Dieudonné, editor’s note) reserved rooms, there was an order and a ban at the last moment, two hours before the show… He was in a defensive position. Now we are moving on. on the offensive. This programming in September was calculated so that we talk about it, that the prefecture is forced to seize it, that it issues an order and that we can attack it quickly. The financial stakes here are more important than in a small village hall. Things have to be settled before the summer.” The advice of the fifties therefore provides that the spectacle of his client is prevented but is already preparing the counter-attack.
For this, Dieudonné and Francis Lalanne will brandish a strong argument with the authorities: “The text of La Cage aux fous will be copyrighted and will be notified by bailiff to Laurent Nuñez [the Prefect of Police of Paris]” before the show, he announces to Actu Paris, so that the public authorities can take note of it and to “eliminate any risk of argument of incitement to racial hatred”, is it specified to the Parisian.
In the mysteries of the police headquarters, the text that the duo could therefore take up in front of nearly 7,000 people maximum (the total capacity of the Zenith is 6,800 places) will therefore be known beforehand. With a risk of leaking before the show?
