Fez — French rapper Booba will stand trial in Paris on December 3 for alleged racist public insults and aggravated online harassment targeting a journalist and an essayist, said the Paris prosecutor’s office.
The racist comments were published on X in January 2024.
Prosecutors said the artist, whose real name is Élie Yaffa, was handed a court summons this week and placed under judicial supervision pending the hearing.
The charges involve “injures publiques à caractère discriminatoire” and aggravated cyberharassment against journalist Linh-Lan Dao, as well as discriminatory public insults against Tristan Mendès France, a Paris Cité University lecturer and essayist known for research on digital culture.
According to the case outline shared with French media, the proceedings focus on messages Booba posted on X in January 2024.
Authorities say the posts referenced Dao’s origins and fueled waves of hostile replies, while separate messages targeted Mendès France. It was not immediately clear whether the December 3 hearing would be purely procedural or include a full examination of the merits.
The Booba trial in Paris adds to the rapper’s ongoing legal troubles. He was indicted in a separate case involving alleged online harassment of French influencer Magali Berdah in 2023 and remains under judicial supervision.
Booba’s legal team has previously said he will present his defense in court.
The case showcases France’s tightening scrutiny of online abuse and discriminatory speech under press and anti-hate statutes.
It also puts Booba—one of France’s most streamed artists—at the center of legal and public debate on the boundaries and repercussions of expression on social platforms.
Booba’s name is familiar to Moroccan audiences: his 2023 Casablanca concert was canceled by local authorities after a boycott campaign accused the rapper of sexist lyrics, drawing wide media attention at the time. That episode remains a touchpoint for public opinion in Morocco as the December court date approaches.
