The comedian and actor Gaëtan Matis has raised a heated controversy after making comments with dubious humor in a post published on social networks. He said he wanted to “book the Bataclan for the evening of November 13, 2015, in order to organize an evening meeting between Eric Zemmour and his audience”. The Parisian theater in which he was performing has finally announced that he is deprogramming his show.
“It makes a lot of people,” commented one of the comedian’s Facebook followers. “I had thought of the Stade de France, but the attack failed”, joked Gaëtan Matis in response, thus continuing in a macabre register. Comments since withdrawn.
Many people condemned his remarks after learning about it, starting with the polemicist Eric Zemmour, directly targeted by the comedian.
“This ‘humorist’, friend of Yassine Belattar, wishes the massacre by jihadists of all those who support me. Which side is the violence on? ”Reacted the essayist.
This “humorist”, friend of Yassine Belattar, wants the massacre by jihadists of all those who support me. Whose side is the violence on?#ZemmourBataclan #GaetanMatis pic.twitter.com/B4ryz5nju1
– Eric Zemmour (@ZemmourEric) October 9, 2021
“Apologia for terrorism”, “face of hatred”, “call for massacre”… On Saturday, reactions flared on the social network Twitter, where the hashtag #GaetanMatis remained in the top tweet for several hours. Like that of MEP Gilbert Collard, who called for “an exemplary condemnation of this call for massacre”, calling Gaëtan Matis a “horror humorist”.
The best way for a supposed unknown comedian #GaetanMatis, to do some publicity, is to provoke by launching a call for the murder of Eric Zemmour and his audience on the day of the commemoration of the abolition of the death penalty by Robert Badinter …
– Marie-Pierre MICHEL (@ TaraKing007) October 9, 2021
The deprogrammed show
A stand-up figure, the actor was until then on the bill at the Point Virgule theater in Paris, where he was to perform on Sundays and Mondays until the end of December.
But in a press release posted on Twitter, the small room in the Marais declared that it “strongly” condemned the artist’s words, and chose to deprogram his show “Seul Ensemble”.
– Le Point Virgule (@AuPointVirgule) October 9, 2021
“Our job is fun, exchange, laughter, joy. It is out of the question to expose the Point Virgule teams to these outbursts of hatred, ”said the theater.
Saturday, the director of Point Virgule Jean-Marc Dumontet was indeed worried on CNews of the violent reactions which had resulted from the post, and in particular of the wave of calls received at Point Virgule – calls “extremely threatening, violent” of people who were offended by Gaëtan Matis’ comments.
VIOLENCE HAS NO PLACE IN DEMOCRACY pic.twitter.com/0leDnzBl0Z
– Jean-Marc Dumontet (@Jmdumontet) October 9, 2021
“I do not wish the death of anyone”
On October 9, the window where you could see the poster for Gaëtan Matis’ show was smashed. Faced with the controversy, the comedian published a press release on Instagram on Saturday afternoon.
“It looks like I wrote a joke that slightly passed me,” he said.
The actor then apologized to the victims of the November 13 attacks, before admitting that his joke was “in bad taste”. “I reassure all those who raise the sauce: I do not wish the death of anyone”.
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A comedian creates controversy with his comments on Eric Zemmour and the Bataclan, his deprogrammed show