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Rapper's Montreal show cancelled after Jewish groups denounce antisemitic lyrics

MONTREAL — Ticketmaster says organizers have cancelled a Montreal show by a French rapper whose lyrics have been denounced as antisemitic. A message on the ticket seller's website said Freeze Corleone's Dec.
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Ticketmaster tickets and gift cards are shown at a box office in San Jose, Calif., on May 11, 2009. Ticketmaster says organizers have cancelled a Montreal show by a French rapper whose lyrics have been denounced as antisemitic. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Paul Sakuma

MONTREAL — Ticketmaster says organizers have cancelled a Montreal show by a French rapper whose lyrics have been denounced as antisemitic.

A message on the ticket seller's website said Freeze Corleone's Dec. 4 show has been cancelled, but the company did not state a reason.

Jewish groups including B'nai Brith Canada have been urging Montreal's L'Olympia theatre to cancel the show over the rapper's lyrics, which have drawn him criticism from human rights groups and French politicians.

The national director of B’nai Brith’s League of Human Rights has said Freeze Corleone has compared himself to Adolf Hitler and the rapper's lyrics include Holocaust denial and antisemitic tropes.

Marvin Rotrand said Monday afternoon that the venue's owners had told him they were looking for a way to cancel the show.

The management of L'Olympia did not respond to a request for comment. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2022.

The Canadian Press

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