An “absolute shame”: why the visit of comedian Yassine Belattar to the Élysée is controversial

It is a visit which arouses an outcry in part of the political class. Advisors to President Emmanuel Macron received comedian Yassine Belattar, former member of the Presidential Council of Cities, at the Élysée, a few days before the Republican march against anti-Semitism last Sunday. Information, revealed by the magazine The Expresswhich sparks controversy.

Because Yassine Belattar is a controversial personality to say the least. The columnist was sentenced in September to four months in prison for death threats and threats of crime against entertainment personalities. Very invested in the fight against Islamophobia, he distinguished himself with his polemical formula “I am not Charlie, I am not Nice”, after the terrorist attacks of 2015 and 2016.

Taking the temperature of the suburbs

The comedian was received last week by two advisors to Emmanuel Macron, at the request of the Head of State, to take the temperature of the suburbs on a possible participation of the Head of State in the march against anti-Semitism . Yassine Belattar would have warned them, calling on the president not to make the irreparable error, which will give the neighborhoods reason to ignite.

This invitation scandalizes part of the political class. The MEP Les Républicains François-Xavier Bellamy reacted in a tweet, calling this meeting an “absolute shame”. For her part, Marine Le Pen deplored that the president took advice “from individuals who are so dangerous to national harmony”.

It was therefore Yassine Belattar, “neither Charlie nor Nice”, muse of the CCIF, convicted of death threats, that the Élysée asked if the president should march against anti-Semitism. To be warned that this would be an “irreparable error”. Absolute shame… https://t.co/ymTHYJiJEZ

— Fx Bellamy (@fxbellamy) November 15, 2023