Paris 2024
French DJ and LGBTQ icon carries Paralympic torch to defy hate she endured over Olympics ceremony
Barbara Butch was subjected to online harassment, death threats and insults following her performance at the Paris Olympics opening show last month.


French DJ Barbara Butch (R) holds the Paralympic flame flanked by French-Iranian writer Marjane Satrapi during the 20th edition of the Rock en Seine music festival, in Saint-Cloud, outside Paris, on Sunday. Anna Kurth / AFP via Getty Images


Aug. 26, 2024, 9:55 AM EDT / Source: The Associated Press
By The Associated Press

PARIS — French performer Barbara Butch carried the Paralympic torch Sunday evening in an act of defiance after being targeted by hate speech over her appearance in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

“I chose not to be afraid to exist in the public space,” Barbara Butch, a popular DJ and LGBTQ icon said in an interview with broadcaster France Info before walking onstage with the torch at a musical event in Saint-Cloud, a western suburb of Paris. “I know I represent France in the same way as anyone else,” she added.

The performer filed a formal legal complaint alleging online abuse after suffering online harassment, death threats and insults following her performance in the July 26 Olympics opening show. Five other artists and performers, including the ceremony’s artistic director, Thomas Jolly, made similar complaints after suffering a torrent of abuse.

Butch said she has received “tens of thousands of hate messages.” A specialized team has managed to identify “hundreds of people who had sent ... the most violet messages,” she said. ... “Justice will do its job and then we will tackle the international level,” Butch said.

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