Police in France have arrested a man for an attempted assault on a Jewish TV presenter at the Paris studio where she works.
The unnamed man was taken into custody after he entered the studio and confronted Valerie Benaim over her trenchant criticism of Freeze Corleone — a French rapper whose hit debut album is steeped in “antisemitism, conspiracy theories, and apologies for Hitler, the Third Reich and [Afghan Taliban commander] Mullah Omar,” according to one leading French anti-racist organization.
Appearing on the live talk show “TPMP” on Sept. 17, an angry Benaim denounced Corleone for lyrics such as, “I arrive determined like Adolf in the 1930s,” and, “Every day I f_k Israel like I live in Gaza.”
“I’m going to try to be very calm, because the words of this boy touch my heart, because I am a Jew, I belong to the Jewish religion,” Benaim declared. “He speaks about humanity, but when you attack a black person, a Jew, a Muslim, you attack humanity.”
According to TPMP producers, Benaim received an “avalanche” of hateful messages on social media in response to her comments — including several posts written by the man arrested by police at the show’s studios.
According to witnesses, the man uttered several antisemitic remarks as he was tackled by security guards at the studio before being taken into custody.
Freeze Corleone — whose real name is Issa Lorenzo Diakhaté — is currently facing legal proceedings for violating French laws against hate speech and Holocaust denial.
