Overwhelmed by events and by the surge of hatred aroused by his performance on TikTok, Benjamin Ledig is now calling for police protection. This 18-year-old influencer has filed 3 complaints since the publication of his controversial video, filmed in a Parisian church, but still refuses to withdraw it.
A simple video shot between friends according to them, where we see Benjamin Ledig – alias @Benjaminmaissecret on TikTok – and his sidekick @Queen_Paul dancing in a sensual way and dressed in crop-tops revealing their navel, in the Saint-Paul church -Saint Louis. The one that sits on the Saint-Paul metro square, in the Marais district, in Paris.
But broadcast on February 16 on their respective TikTok account, including that of Queen Paul followed by more than 3 million subscribers, it went viral, launching a real public debate, including on TV sets, on what it is possible or not to do in a place of worship in the name of freedom of expression and the right to blasphemy.
A handrail deposited by the parish
Except that the damage is done and the lack of respect is obvious for Catholics, but also for Father Pierre Vivarès, parish priest of Saint-Paul, who went to file a handrail at the police station. “I did not want legal proceedings”, however explained the latter to the Parisian, explaining that he had joined the two boys to ask them to withdraw the video.
What only Queen Paul agreed to do. On March 4, he even apologized in a Youtube video for his community: “II had no negative message to convey in this video towards religion […] which is a sensitive subject. And at the time, I had not realized it at all.
particularly violent harassment
Benjamin Ledig, meanwhile, still refuses to remove his video, and is now the victim of particularly violent harassment. Claiming to be terrified according to Le Parisien, which reveals that the young man recently filed a complaint for the third time after receiving death threats, Benjamin Ledig no longer leaves his home, for fear of being attacked.
On March 9, he appeared in tears in a video, in which he explained that he wanted “all this to stop”. “I just can’t take it anymore […] I can not do it anymore. I want to get my friends back. I need help and I want all this to stop”, he repeats over and over.
So why didn’t you answer the call of the parish priest of Saint-Paul and simply erase the video? Many wonder. Maybe it’s the lure of profit, as his video has accumulated nearly 290 million views, becoming by far the most viewed on his TikTok account and taking him from quasi-unknown to public figure.
In the meantime, Benjamin Ledig continues the provocations, very recently publishing a video of him wearing a yarmulke as a fashion accessory. A few days earlier, he had announced that he wanted to go to a mosque to make a new video there, and had simply gone … to the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Paris.