A controversy is shaking up the lineup of the Cabaret Frappé festival in Grenoble. Barbara Butch’s participation is being challenged by LFI Grenoble after she signed a letter in support of the Yadan law.
[May 22 update: DJ Barbara Butch did not actually “perform at Tel Aviv Pride” on June 13, 2025, as implied by the LFI Grenoble post, since the event had been cancelled. Barbara Butch was, however, indeed present in Tel Aviv at that time. In Instagram stories, the French DJ was seen performing at the residence of the French ambassador in Israel, in Tel Aviv, during the night of June 12–13, 2025.]
The DJ Barbara Butch, who has become widely known since her set at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, is at the center of a controversy. The LGBTQI+ activist, feminist, and anti-fatphobia artist is slated to take part in Grenoble’s Cabaret Frappé festival, which runs from July 15 to 19 and has been organized by the Isère municipality since 1999. However, the Grenoble section of the France Insoumise party is calling on Grenoble city hall to cancel the artist’s booking.
The reason? The DJ signed a tribune in support of the Yadan law, published in Le Point at the end of March. This bill, introduced in 2024 by deputy Caroline Yadan and titled “Proposal for a law aimed at fighting renewed forms of antisemitism,” was debated in the National Assembly on April 16, 2026 before being withdrawn before the end of its examination. Yet, the Grenoble movement of La France insoumise argues that the text “was aimed at criminalizing any support for the Palestinian people, notably by prohibiting criticisms of the colonial and genocidal regime of Israel,” as stated in an Instagram post dated May 12, 2026.
The social media post is accompanied by an image showing an LGBTQI+ flag with a Star of David, and Barbara Butch as a blood-stained DJ, an image that helped ignite the debate far beyond Grenoble. “In the spirit of the #BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) campaign, we call for a cultural boycott of the artist. We demand that Laurence Ruffin, the mayor of Grenoble, clarify her position regarding the participation of this artist.”, reads the end of the post.
“I cannot stand any violence, wherever it comes from”
Barbara Butch had previously responded in a video on April 25, 2026, on her Instagram account to the reactions surrounding this tribune: “I signed a letter to denounce antisemitism in France, which I suffer from daily, […] and since my childhood, which became even stronger after the Olympics. […] Of course I cannot stand any violence, wherever it comes from. […] Of course there are things to critique about this law, but a law is something that should be discussed.”
What unsettles LFI Grenoble about the approach is less the stance itself than its inaccuracies. The movement accuses the artist of having hosted Tel Aviv Pride in 2025; however, not only did Barbara Butch not host it, but that edition of Pride in 2025 was canceled. Furthermore, Allan Brunon, former head of the LFI slate in Grenoble and a municipal councilor, told Libération that “there is no question of attacking this person as an individual,” while publicly urging a boycott. The mayor of Grenoble, Laurence Ruffin, has not yet rendered a decision, with a city council meeting planned for May 26. Barbara Butch has not publicly spoken out at this time.
