“If with my little voice I can be useful, I do it. I rarely get involved, because I am not an activist, I don’t do politics”declares Florent Pagny from the outset, in an interview given to Parisian this Monday, October 14. The singer, usually rather discreet on sensitive subjects, has decided to get involved in a cause that is close to his heart. The artist, who recently revealed an intimate and secret project with his daughter Ael, sings for the liberation of a figure of ecological activism and founder of Sea Shepherd, Paul Watson. The Canadian is currently imprisoned in Greenland, awaiting possible extradition to Japan, which wishes to sentence him to a heavy prison sentence.
A situation that Florent Pagny does not accept, who decided to join forces with Cali and other artists to record a song in order to free the defender of the whales. “This guy has been fighting since the 1970s to defend the whales. If we don’t do anything for him, humanity is going to have problems (…) I can wear python or crocodile jackets but those -there, if they come across a human, not sure that it will go too well for him”specifies the 62-year-old artist to explain his fight for animal welfare. If he has decided to commit, the jury of The Voice is not the first to have tried to raise awareness on the subject. Flying to Greenland to support Paul Watson, Francis Lalanne is at the initiative of this song, of which “he came up with the lyrics and music”as our colleagues at Parisian.
Francis Lalanne, controversial positions
If he has long been a somewhat separate character and with his own universe, Francis Lalanne has hit the headlines recently, in particular because of his proximity to the comedian Dieudonné or his conspiratorial comments on Covid. “I never subscribed to his delusions”he explains about the singer, accused of violence against his ex-partner last year, before justifying his participation in this project: “But I’ve known him for thirty-five years and when he sends me this song, I ignore all that.”
Suffering from lung cancer, Azucena Caamaño’s husband, with whom he has two children, Inca and Aël, also spoke about the illness. “It’s not for nothing that we call it the crab, it sticks. But it’s okay”explains Florent Pagny.
