After making an anti-Semitic speech on Wednesday May 15 on her Instagram account, where she is followed by more than a million people, French influencer Poupette Kenza, whose real name is Kenza Benchrif, is the target of several legal reports. The interministerial delegation for the fight against racism, anti-Semitism and anti-LGBT hatred (Dilcrah) announced Thursday that it had reported its comments to the public prosecutor.
At issue: a story in which the young woman spoke about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the boycott movements against Israel, which are spreading on social networks. “I tell you, it’s clear and clear, I am pro-Palestinian, I do not work for any Zionist or Jewish person,” she declared on camera. (…) I don’t have any partners, any agents who are Jewish or anything. »
“Boycotting women and men because of their identity or religion is obviously illegal,” recalled the minister responsible for the fight against discrimination, Aurore Bergé, in a publication on the X platform. L’Union of Jewish Students of France (UEJF), which for its part claims to have filed a complaint “for incitement to hatred and discrimination”, considers that “such hateful remarks broadcast to more than a million subscribers endanger the Jews.”
His Instagram profile inaccessible Thursday
A few minutes after her anti-Semitic comments, the influencer filmed herself again to “correct” her statements and recognize that she had “expressed herself poorly”: “I have nothing against the Jews (…), I [ I just against the Zionists and those who finance the genocide, those who finance this massacre. »
Poupette Kenza’s Instagram account, on which these comments and apologies were published, was no longer accessible early Thursday afternoon. Requested by Agence France-Presse, the Meta social network did not comment on the reasons for this suspension. Her TikTok and YouTube profiles, where the influencer has not spoken since the controversy began, are currently still online.
Besides, Poupette Kenza is not at her first run-ins with the law. In the summer of 2023, she was singled out for “deceptive commercial practices” by the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Repression. The department of the Ministry of Economy and Finance accused her of having promoted a teeth whitener banned in France and forced her to pay 50,000 euros as part of a criminal transaction.