Multidisciplinary artist Franck Sylvestre decided to send a letter of demand to Red Coalition spokesman Alain Babineau on Tuesday for making statements that forced the cancellation of his shows.
The creator of the puppet theater “The Incredible Secret of Blackbeard,” Franck Sylvestre, had to cancel his performances in early 2023 due to criticism of his puppet Max.
To some, the doll would look like “blackface” and perpetuate racist stereotypes.
According to the formal communication, Alain Babineau is said to have linked this show last February in particular “to systemic racism and the so-called practice of black face”.
- Listen to the interview with Franck Sylvestre, the actor in Sophie Durocher’s show QUB radio :
“Furthermore, on or about February 24, 2023, in various publications on Twitter, you personally insulted Mr. Sylvestre, in particular by referring to him as a ‘good black man,'” reads the letter sent Tuesday.
Therefore, the artist demands that Mr. Babineau stop damaging his reputation and that of his show. He also wants a notice of revocation to be published within the next 15 days.
“If this fails, we will consider appropriate legal proceedings, including an action for compensatory and exemplary damages in the amount of $25,000,” said the artist’s lawyer, Me Guillaume Rousseau.
“My artistic practice consists of using caricatural, comic and absurd themes to address topics that are certainly sensitive but essential to coexistence, in order to gain a better understanding of the historical journeys of the communities that today make up a society that is as plural as that of Quebec,” specified Mr. Sylvestre.