French DJ Barbara Butch has announced legal action against La France Insoumise (LFI), accusing the left-wing party and several individuals of inciting hatred and violence after her concert in Grenoble, southeast France, was disrupted by pro-Palestinian and LFI activists on July 18.
The move comes after prosecutors in Grenoble opened an investigation into what authorities described as a possible offence of “concerted obstruction of freedoms” following the incident.
According to Barbara Butch’s lawyer, Audrey Msellati, multiple complaints will be filed against LFI, several of its local elected officials and representatives, as well as right-wing media outlet Omerta and essayist Alain Soral.
The complaints concern different defendants and include allegations of public incitement to hatred and violence, aggravated assault, obstruction of artistic freedom, aggravated cyberharassment, public defamation and aggravated public insult.
The controversy stems from a concert at the Cabaret Frappé festival in Grenoble on the evening of July 18 that was cut short after about 20 minutes when around 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators, including LFI activists, gathered in the middle of the audience following calls for a boycott circulated by the party’s local branch since May.
Barbara Butch later described the atmosphere as one of “unprecedented violence”, saying she was subjected to verbal abuse while objects were thrown towards the stage and her DJ equipment.
Speaking to Franceinfo today, she defended her decision to pursue legal action.
“It’s important to let justice determine who is responsible and to restore the truth,” she said.
The DJ insisted she would continue performing despite the incident and is due to appear at a festival in Saint-Martin-du-Tertre, in the Yonne department of northern Burgundy, on July 25.
The boycott campaign centred on Butch’s support for the now-withdrawn Yadan bill, proposed legislation intended to strengthen France’s fight against what supporters described as “new forms of anti-Semitism”.
Activists also criticised her participation in a June 12, 2025, event hosted at the residence of the French ambassador to Israel in Tel Aviv, days after Israeli forces intercepted the Madleen aid boat.
Butch has repeatedly argued that criticism of Israeli government policy should not be used to target Jewish individuals. She told Franceinfo on May 24 that she regretted having signed the op-ed backing the bill.
After the attack, she said France had experienced a sharp rise in anti-Semitism over the past three years, describing the current climate as reaching “a climax”.
The incident has prompted widespread condemnation across France’s cultural sector.
More than 300 artists, actors, filmmakers, writers and academics signed an open letter published in Libération on July 21 backing the DJ, including actor Alain Chabat, filmmakers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, actress Géraldine Nakache and Festival d’Avignon director Tiago Rodrigues.
Titled “Attacking a Jewish DJ will not free Palestine” and written by anti-racism campaigner Jonas Pardo, the letter said the defence of Palestinian rights was urgent and legitimate but could not justify the spreading of unfounded accusations against a person because of their identity, supposed affiliations or opinions.
In a separate piece for Le Monde, Butch and Msellati wrote that the anti-Zionism invoked at Grenoble had been nothing more than “the clothing of anti-Semitism”.
The controversy has renewed political scrutiny of Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s party, which has already faced repeated accusations from opponents over its rhetoric surrounding Israel and anti-Semitism.
Interior minister Laurent Nuñez condemned the violence on X, saying anti-Semitism, intimidation and pressure had no place in the French Republic. Aurore Bergé, minister for equality between women and men, raised the case in the National Assembly on July 21, and culture minister Catherine Pégard met Butch on July 22.
Criticism also came from the Left. Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure said such methods did nothing to help Palestinians, while Green MP Clémentine Autain, a former LFI member, said Butch had long been a target of violent, sexist and anti-Semitic attacks.
LFI parliamentary leader Mathilde Panot acknowledged on BFMTV-RMC on July 22 that a leaflet distributed by party activists before the concert was “bad”. She said she would never accept insults, projectile throwing or the cyber-harassment of a public figure but rejected accusations that anti-Semitism exists within LFI.
