The creator of the show “Blackbeard's Incredible Secret,” which made headlines last year because of its black puppet and was found offensive by some activist organizations, is suing for defamation of character and violation of his freedom of expression.
After much deliberation, Franck Sylvestre decided to sue Alain Babineau, one of the leaders of the Red Coalition, who, according to Mr. Sylvestre, made defamatory comments about him last winter at the height of the controversy.
On Wednesday, his lawyer Me Guillaume Rousseau of the Municonseil law firm was scheduled to file an initial application for damages for defamation of reputation and freedom of expression at the Montreal courthouse.
His application was published by the organization Droitscollectives Québec (DCQ), which, together with the Association des Québécois united contre le racialisme (AQUR), supports Mr. Sylvestre in his approach to obtaining compensation.
The latter is seeking $26,600 from Mr. Babineau, a former police officer who now serves as the Red Coalition's director of racial profiling and public safety issues and to whom he sent an update – unsuccessfully – in September seeking public comment demand an apology.
Shows cancelled
The complaint specifically accuses the defendant of making aggressive, vindictive, emotional, malicious, vexatious and defamatory statements against Mr. Sylvestre during a press conference organized jointly with the West Island Black Community Association on February 24, 2023.
Mr. Babineau would then have linked the artist to a “racist doll”, to black people supporting the ideas of white supremacists, to systemic racism and in particular to the dehumanization of black people, claiming that he only contributes to this dehumanization and that he participates in blackface practice.
The prosecution also regrets the fact that the defendant wrote to his “master” and attached to his publication a photo of Mr. Sylvestre and his doll.
The controversy notably led to the cancellation of a performance scheduled for February 27 in Beaconsfield and another at the Montreal Youth Literature Festival in early April, the motion initiating the proceedings highlights.
It also ensured that the plaintiff now sees his professional career threatened because he is wrongly described as a “controversial” artist whom broadcasters are hesitant to hire for fear of reprisals, according to the document, which is around ten pages long .
The show at the center of the controversy, presented since 2010, features a black doll that embodies a Martinian magician and is said to be a caricature of the artist, himself from the small Caribbean island. The character appears in the final minutes of the story, the lawsuit says.