Médine (rapper)

In January 2014, Médine posted two photos of himself on Facebook performing a Quenelle, one in front of the Skyrock offices and another in front of a replica of the Bethlehem separation wall.^[8] In September 2014, he attended a conference by Kémi Séba, political activist and leader of the antisemitic group Ka tribe at the Main d'Or theater.^[9] In 2015, he displayed one of Kémi Séba's books in the music video for Don't Laïk. A few years later, he expressed regret for those actions and said that he had made an error in judgment.^[10]

In 2015, Médine's song "Don't Laïk" led to domestic controversy because of its criticism of French secularism (laïcité) and lyrics targeting public figures such as Nadine Morano, Jean-François Copé, and Pierre Cassen. Writer and journalist Caroline Fourest and political scientist and Arabist Gilles Kepel, among other critics, said that the song was hostile to secular values and contributed to tensions around religion and national identity in France.^[11] Médine responded that the lyrics had been taken out of context and said that the song was meant to defend secularism and promote non-violence.^[12]

In 2018, a second domestic political controversy involved Médine's announcement of planned concerts at the Bataclan, a Paris venue associated with the November 2015 terrorist attacks. Several right and far-right politicians such as Marine Le Pen and Laurent Wauquiez said that the concerts should be cancelled, citing earlier lyrics from his songs "Jihad" (2005) and "Don't Laïk" (2015), which they said are provocative in light of the venue's history. The concerts were relocated to a different Paris venue.^[13][14]

In February 2021, French politician Aurore Bergé referred to Médine as a "rappeur islamiste". Médine filed a defamation lawsuit against her with the goal of receiving a public retraction and apology. In 2022, he lost the case when the court ruled that the statement did not refer to a specific factual allegation so could not constitute defamation under French law.^[15][16]

In August 2023, Médine faced controversy after referring to French-Gambian artist and writer Rachel Khan as "resKHANpée: someone who has been thrown out of the hip hop scene, drifting among social traitors and literally eating at the table of the far right,” in a post on X. The remark was widely criticized as antisemitic because Khan is Jewish and the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors.^[17] Khan denounced the rapper's “hateful words,” calling him a “repeat offender”.^[18] Médine later apologized, saying that the comment was "a mistake" that did not reference Khan'a "origin or family history", and added that "antisemitism is poison" that he "fights".^[19] Some politicians criticized EELV and La France Insoumise for inviting Médine to their summer universities and called for the invitation to be rescinded. The invitations were upheld^[20][10], while Jeanne Barseghian, Pierre Hurmic, Karima Delli canceled their participation in the event, entirely or specifically.^[21]

While Médine has stated that his support for same-sex marriage is evidence of his opposition to homophobia,^[22] in 2023, the association ADHEOS cited earlier comments attributed to him in an interview on Ptit Delire TV in which he distinguished between a "spiritual position" opposing same-sex marriage and a "civic and social position" supporting equal treatment under the law.^[23][24]

• Kery James