Choir members describe a scene where black singers were allegedly confined to a dressing room during the show, unlike their white colleagues. “During rehearsals for Pierre’s performance, black bracelets were distributed only to choristers from immigrant backgrounds, more specifically black women and men” writes an Internet user whose set of tweets was particularly relayed. She continues: “When the rehearsals ended, a member of the production of Daily asked everyone wearing a black bracelet to raise their hands. And asked them to leave the set to go to a room. The non-racialized singers remained on the set. […] During the entire show, there were singers who were not of color in the audience, those without black bracelets. The colored choristers were only released to sing the 2min50 with Pierre.” “I was among the choir members… the racism we suffered? I’ve never experienced that in my life. A shame” also reacts a singer.
Another also details the day spent on set. She begins by describing a situation “tense” behind the scenes where the singers who were asked to wait in the dressing room visibly had difficulty getting “go to the toilet, put on makeup” Or “recover something to snack on from their belongings”: “We were then made to return to this famous room where all the owners of black bracelets were present. We talk among ourselves, and given the time, we end up understanding that we are “the black people” unwanted on the screen and that we were just going to appear long enough to sing. We were all there looking at each other and understanding that each black bracelet wearer was a black person, all the tones of black were gathered in the same place, except two which were placed on the board so as not to be seen. During the broadcast, every black person remaining on set was positioned so that they were obscured by a reporter, or were in a corner where their head was cut off. For the rest, they brought in a new white audience to replace us. And we, wearing the black bracelet, had to quickly join this first line and replace the white audience, only during the performance. What happened is serious.” And further : “I can’t tell you the rage it brings to realize that our color is disturbing, our features, our physique, our hairstyle, our skin color were not acceptable and that we had to dilute all that with a “public white””.
”Star Ac de la politique”, “Pyjama Party”: when Quotidien takes the lead in certain Belgian political broadcasts
A “sequence of misunderstandings”
Watching the show allows you to notice a change in the composition of the audience located on the left of the stage, where the choir will stand up at the time of the song. During the singer’s performance, the choir is mainly made up of black people. In the very front row, in particular, there are only racialized people, some of whom it is visible that they are wearing a black bracelet on their wrist. Before the song is broadcast, for example during the interview with Dominique de Villepin, these people are absent from the ranks of the public. This is also the case once Pierre Garnier’s performance is over. Before and after the song, a large majority of non-racialized people, who are not then found among the singers, make up the audience. However, and contrary to what has sometimes been understood from the various testimonies broadcast on the networks, not all the black singers left the set, some of them finding themselves in the last row.
With CheckNews, the production of Daily deplores a situation “regrettable” and an “sequence of misunderstandings” but denies “any deliberate act” of racism, specifying: “We can’t imagine for a second that choristers were deprived of staying on set because they were black. But if these people had this terrible feeling, we can only apologize.” The production also details the course of events: “When Pierre Garnier’s invitation was confirmed, the director proposed the participation of around a hundred choristers for the chorus. We accepted. Yesterday, during rehearsals, there were around a hundred singers on site. We explained to them that we had not been able to uninvite all of the audience who had booked to attend the show – we had been able to unbook a small portion, but not everyone. So, around fifty singers had to go to the dressing room before returning to record the song. At that time, it was planned that non-choristers would free up their seats in the stands. The singers were given bracelets which allow them to move around backstage. But at no time was the choice of people to whom the bracelet was given calculated. In fact, the majority of the singers were black, we did not dispatch to find out who was going to spend time in the dressing room. According to the production, it would therefore be a coincidence if the vast majority of people relegated to the dressing room were black and if only a few racialized people remained on stage, even though the latter make up the majority of the choir.
Called “arrogant”, Yann Barthès responds to a deputy in Quotidien (VIDEO)
“A moment of unease”
In addition, the production recognizes “Indeed a moment of unease because several hours passed between the time of rehearsals and the recording. So the main problem is how to manage a hundred people in such a short time, working with the singer’s team, the gospel company, the company that manages the audience and [la société de production] Bangumi. We have to think about how we can accommodate around a hundred people.”
When asked, none of the choristers who spoke out on social networks, nor the choir management, responded. One of them explains that the choir director and the choir team are in contact with Daily, it is now impossible for them to say more. Near CheckNewsthe production of Daily confirmed at the end of the morning this Tuesday, June 4, its desire to contact the gospel group, in order to calm the situation.
