On the set of C à vous, Benjamin Biolay made no detour to express his enmity against an internationally known politician.
Wednesday September 21, Benjamin Biolay was the guest of Anne-Elisabeth Lemoine in the second part of C à vous, to promote her new album. Before discussing the artist’s songs at length, Emilie N’Guyen wrote her column.
In the news of the day, there was this video of Justin Trudeau, taken Saturday evening, in the lobby of a London hotel. The Canadian Prime Minister had visited the British capital on the occasion of the funeral of Elizabeth II, who died on September 8.
In the video extract, we can see Justin Trudeau improvise a small concert accompanied by a pianist, in the lobby of his hotel. The Prime Minister interpreted the very famous Bohemian Rhapsody of the group Queen, whose singer Freddy Mercury was interpreted in the cinema by Rami Malek.
Benjamin Biolay: “Justin Trudeau I find him embarrassing”
When talking about this private concert by Justin Trudeau, Benjamin Biolay instantly commented on the performance of the Canadian minister: “Embarrassing (…) embarrassing, I find”he launched live on France 5. The French singer continued his criticism by referring to Justin Trudeau’s past: “No, but I find him embarrassing, he made blackfaces for example. Who does blackfaces?he was indignant.
Benjamin Biolay was referring to a photo of Justin Trudeau dated 2001. At the time, the Canadian Prime Minister was a professor, and it was in this context that he took part in a fancy dress party, the theme of which was “the thousand and one night”. To perfect his disguise, the politician had thought it smart to make a blackface, a racist practice of painting your face black, to disguise yourself… as a black person.
Justin Trudeau on his blackface at the time: “I recognize today that it was racist, and I am deeply sorry”
It was in 2019 that this twenty-year-old photo emerged, which aroused general indignation. This blackface is far from the progressive image enjoyed by Justin Trudeau. The Prime Minister then hastened to apologize following the leak of this image: “It’s something that I didn’t consider racist at the time, but I recognize today that it was racist, and I am deeply sorry“.
This week, it was this private concert that earned Justin Trudeau an icy reception on the web: “He was criticized for the lyrics he hummed to this song. To translate into French, ‘easy come, easy go’ is the equivalent of: ‘C’est la vie’. Some saw it as a kind of interpretation in relation to the mourning of the queen“explained journalist Emilie N’Guyen on the set of It’s up to you.