French Singer Patrick Bruel Cancels Autumn Tour After Sexual Violence Charges

Patrick Bruel announced on Tuesday 1 September that he had cancelled his 35-concert autumn tour of France, saying the performances had "become something else" — the embodiment of a public debate that had overtaken them. The singer made the declaration on his Instagram account, stating that the conditions no longer existed for concerts to remain "moments of music and sharing".

Bruel is formally under investigation — mis en examen — in four cases involving allegations of rape, attempted rape, and other sexual violence. He holds the more favourable status of assisted witness in four further cases. Dozens of women have accused him of sexual assault. The tour, scheduled to run from 2 October to 21 November, had become the focus of sustained pressure from feminist associations, elected officials, and politicians calling for its cancellation over several weeks.

In his statement, Bruel was careful to frame the decision as a personal one, taken freely and not under legal compulsion. "This decision in no way means that I am giving up my defence. I take it freely. Justice does not require it of me. And nor does anyone else," he wrote. He added that his earlier determination to maintain the tour had been "neither a challenge nor a provocation".

Reactions

The feminist collective NousToutes welcomed the announcement as the fruit of "enormous feminist mobilisation", describing the planned tour as "indecent, an insult to victims". Mayors of several cities where Bruel had been due to perform expressed relief. Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, the mayor of Rouen, said: "Better late than never. Now justice must proceed calmly." His counterpart in Chartres, Ladislas Vergne, said the cancellation meant that victims' voices would now be valued and that justice could carry out its work undisturbed.

The mayor of Strasbourg, Catherine Trautmann, also welcomed the cancellation, saying the women who had had the courage to testify must be able to count on public listening and support. Aurore Bergé, the minister responsible for equality between women and men, who had previously called on Bruel to stand down his tour, said she "took note" of the decision.

Jade Dousselin, a lawyer representing several complainants, expressed "great relief" at the announcement while making clear the cancellation did not, in her view, obscure what she described as "errors" in the justice system's handling of the case.