France’s far-right National Front party is threatening to sue Madonna because she had images of party leader Marine Le Pen with a swastika, the symbol of the Nazi movement, superimposed on her forehead at a recent concert in Paris.
The gig took place on Saturday. The picture was part of a video montage that also combined footage of Madonna’s face merging with images resembling Adolf Hitler, Pope Benedict XVI, former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, President Hu Jintao of China and Republican leader Sarah Palin. Religious symbols and video from anti-gay rallies were also seen.
“Projecting such an image of Marine Le Pen with a swastika implies that she is a Nazi,” National Front lawyer Wallerand de Saint-Just told the news wire Agence France-Presse. He said a civil complaint would be filed against Madonna later in the week, according to English-language French outlet The Local.
Madonna had featured the same montage at earlier concerts during her current world tour, including in Tel Aviv, Israel, where she kicked off her concert series in June. Le Pen, who won 18 percent of the vote in the first round of France’s presidential election in April, had warned Madonna to not show Nazi images at her concerts in France, calling them a “serious insult.”
Madonna has not commented about the politician’s party’s threat to sue. The singer, one of the most successful music artists in the world, is known for pushing the envelope and stirring controversy when it comes to her performances, which contain themes of politics, religion and sex. Madonna had flashed her nipple and buttocks at the audience at previous concerts.
She is set to return to France for another stop on Her “MDNA” tour – the singer has a concert in Nice that is scheduled for August 21.
Check out a fan-made video of Madonna’s performance in Paris below (warning – contains explicit images, viewer viscretion is advised).