Olympic Games 2024 in Paris: the mayor of Marseille points out the “welders” criticizing the choice of rapper July

The secret of his presence was especially carefully preserved, and the tension continued until the last minute. It was shortly after 7.30pm on Wednesday evening in the Old Port, and while many fans were hoping to spot Zinedine Zidane as the third torchbearer on the float erected to mark the arrival of the Olympic flame in Marseille, it was rapper Jules who did so. his appearance.

Figure of the city of Marseille, the most listened to artist on the platforms of France, the one who announced himself at the end of 2013 with titles such as Takes out the stolen cross Then In my paranoia had the honor of lighting the boiler. “I am very proud of France and of Marseille,” said Jules, born Julien Marie.

On the spot, the public, who, in particular, came to the concert of Soprano and Alonso and other figures of the musical culture of Marseille, seemed to be defeated. In the images taken by our colleagues from France 3, we can even see some fans in tears, hallucinating after seeing this scene and the mini-concert of the artist under his name. Guilt.

“Marseille is July, and July is Marseille”

“This is incredible, this is the happiest day of my life,” one of them shouted. I think I’ll be rolling on the floor soon. Here is Jewel, he is the man of my life! “Marseille is July, and Jules is Marcel! – echoed one of the neighbors, sitting in the first row behind the barriers.

But his presence also alarmed some observers, surprised, disappointed or even annoyed that they had not discovered a figure from Olympism or even football at the time. “Shame,” “stupid idea,” “bad choice,” some Internet users said.

Some sports figures also looked surprised. Julienne Benneteau, a former tennis player and current captain of the French women’s team at the Billy Jean Cup (formerly the Fed Cup), wrote “…” on an X attached to a photo of the rapper holding a torch.

“Hey Merce, zone! »

But organizers and politicians savored the moment. Thus, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal on his X account used the phrase “The J is the S”, an expression often used by the rapper and his followers (“J” stands for “Jul” and “S” stands for “blood” as in meaning family). “Hey Merce, zone! added Tony Estanguet, President of the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee, again using the expression of the Marseille artist.

“They are grumpy,” Benoit Payan, the mayor of Marseille, whispered into the RMC Sport microphone, commenting on the criticism. Everything went very, very well. There are always people who have something to comment on, leave them alone. The Marseilles are happy, so am I, the French are happy. »

“This is a choice that corresponds to what many French people listen to,” Aurore Berger, the minister responsible for equality between women and men, explained to CNews today. There are always unhappy people, I think we should celebrate that party that happened yesterday. » Benoit Payan was also pleased to have the opportunity to take part in “an extraordinary celebration, a national celebration, a celebration that emphasized the values ​​of sport.”

“It was wonderful,” he continued. A billion viewers saw what this city is capable of, because this city is capable of the best, and we are very proud of that. »

Tony Parker, who was present in Marseille, for his part, emphasized that Juhl was “very, very proud to be from Marseille, so symbolically that I thought it was nice.”

The torch relay will continue throughout the day this Thursday in France’s second city. Basile Boly was first to start just before 8:30am, with Didier Drogba finishing the day at the Orange Velodrome.