It’s a funny coincidence. That same week, two people who had been “expelled from society” and were considered outcasts of some sort returned.
Éric Lapointe releases his 16th album and performs a show at the Capitole in Quebec.
Maripier Morin (who started in radio at WKND) sees his return to television confirmed in À Coeur Battant on Radio-Canada.
Proof that it is neither the stage managers, nor the moral police, nor the BPDLCWDP (right-thinking Plateau Woke Clique) who can predict how long an artist’s purgatory will last.
It’s you, the audience. Period.
IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE
In his exclusive interview with the Journal, Éric Lapointe confided to my colleague Alexandre Caputo: “Choosing this profession means choosing criticism, choosing the judgment of others and choosing uncertainty.” But I think I have still my place.”
Not only does he still have his place, but the public gave him a more than warm welcome at the Capitol. Die-hard fans even knew the lyrics to his new album, which was released the day before, by heart!
In March 2022, when a small cabal on the Internet questioned Éric Lapointe’s presence at a Maple Festival, I wrote the following: “Éric Lapointe pleaded guilty to one count of assault in 2019. I don’t want to downplay or trivialize the rocker’s gestures. However, the criminal and defense attorney together with the defense attorney applied for a conditional release. And the judge supported their joint proposal. Lapointe was not sentenced to prison! And should the “People’s Court” with Éric Lapointe be stricter than the official court? Lapointe was brought to trial. Why give him a professional penalty?
You won’t be surprised if I tell you that a year and a half later, my opinion hasn’t changed a bit.
Last week a man introduced himself to me in the restaurant: “Hello, I’m Mr. I wanted to thank you for the numerous texts in which you defended the presumption of innocence.”
Thanks teacher. But in a legal society it should be self-evident, as should the right to a full defense.
It’s like thanking me for saying water is wet.
Rather, the question is, “Why aren’t more of us living by these principles?”
WITCH HUNT
As for Maripier Morin, his television fate changed after an interview with Fabienne Larouche on Radio QUB.
In January 2021, the producer explained on my show about Morin: “There is a moment when redemption and atonement for guilt have a limit. We won’t burn her at the stake anyway!”
Maripier saw the journal’s text summarizing this interview, she contacted Fabienne Larouche and the rest is history.
How many artists are currently chewing on this in Quebec, waiting to be told, “The witch hunt is over?”
