An electronic music evening in which DJ Barbara Butch was due to perform in Amiens, northern France, has been cancelled following a boycott call from a pro-Palestinian association, two months after a similar concert of hers in Grenoble was interrupted.
La Lune des Pirates, the associative concert hall that had booked the show for September 19, said the conditions necessary for the security and welcome of the public were no longer in place. Butch was one of three artists scheduled to perform that night.
Her supporters argue that boycott calls from pro-Palestinian activists are a cover for antisemitic attacks. The Amiens branch of the association France-Palestine Solidarité (AFPS) said the boycott call had worked and the concert was cancelled, declaring victory on Instagram.
Mayor defends a 'difficult' decision
Frederic Fauvet, the Socialist mayor of Amiens and president of the Amiens metropolitan area, told AFP the cancellation was a difficult decision that unfortunately came down to a simple matter of reality. He said the layout of the venue did not allow organizers to guarantee the security of the event, and that he regretted the organizers had been forced into that position.
Ministers and lawmakers condemn cancellation
From Wednesday afternoon, several right-wing and centrist officials criticized the cancellation. Aurore Berge, the deputy minister for the fight against discrimination, told the channel CNews it was an act of cowardice and a capitulation by the concert hall. She said an artist could not simply be dropped from a lineup for one reason: because she is Jewish, and because of that she now faces boycott calls.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on X on Thursday that he deplored the cancellation, noting that every security guarantee had already been offered to the organizer. He said local contacts had been made with state services to plan protection and security measures so the artist could perform without incident and under the best possible conditions.
Xavier Bertrand, the Republicans (LR) president of the Hauts-de-France region, called the cancellation unacceptable on X. He said artists should not be chosen to perform based on their opinions, their religion or the causes attributed to them, and that political intimidation should not be allowed to dictate cultural programming in France.
Sebastien Chenu, a Rassemblement National lawmaker and vice-president of the National Assembly, wrote on X that after Grenoble, Butch had again been prevented from playing in Amiens while the far left celebrated, adding that there should be no capitulating to what he called the boycott mob. Yonathan Arfi, president of the Conseil Representatif des Institutions Juives de France (Crif), also called it a capitulation on X and urged the state to exercise its authority so the concert could go ahead.
New venue's opening disrupted
The cancelled evening was meant to mark the inauguration of La Lune des Pirates' new venue, construction of which was funded in part by Amiens Metropole, the Somme department and the Hauts-de-France region.
Grenoble concert interrupted in July
Butch, a queer activist, has faced regular attacks over her sexual orientation and her weight since she was one of the faces of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Her concert in Grenoble on July 18 was also targeted by a boycott call, including from the Grenoble branch of the left-wing party La France Insoumise. According to Grenoble city hall, which said it would file a criminal complaint, the show was halted after about twenty minutes when objects were thrown at the stage.
Activists criticized the DJ over her participation in 2025 in an event held at the residence of the French ambassador to Israel, and over her signing of an opinion piece backing the proposed Yadan law, a measure aimed at fighting new forms of antisemitism that was later contested and withdrawn.
Government response after Grenoble
Following the Grenoble incident, Culture Minister Catherine Pegard announced at the end of July that two circulars would be sent to prefects and sitting magistrates to strengthen the enforcement of penalties against the offense of obstructing artistic expression.
