Thirteen people were arrested at Paris’s Orly airport following a mass brawl between rival French rappers which forced the authorities to shut down an entire terminal.
The brawl, which took part in the airport’s departure lounge between French rappers Booba and Kaaris, caused flight delays for other passengers and forced authorities to shut down the entire terminal, broadcaster La Chaîne Info (LCI) reports.
Video footage of the incident shows members of both rappers’ entourages fighting with each other in what appears to be a duty-free shop while onlookers watch.
The two rappers are known to be longtime rivals and both were arrested following the brawl. Only two of the individuals arrested by police have been released so far, with the remaining suspects being held following criminal complaints lodged by the Aéroports de Paris for charges including causing a public disturbance and endangering the lives of others.
Air France also filed a complaint against the brawlers, seeking 8,500 euros in damages due to the flight delays and the owner of the duty-free shop has claimed the men caused 54,000 euros worth of damage.
Arash Derambarsh, a lawyer representing Kaaris, claimed that his client had been “ambushed” and that Kaaris had “no desire, this August, to do anything other than work.”
Lawyer Maitre Le Bras, who represents Booba, real name Elie Yaffa, said the opposite, claiming “the initiative is obviously on the side of the group of Kaaris, the images show it… The accusation of ‘ambush’ does not rest on anything and will be denied everywhere.”
The incident is just the latest controversy surrounding French rappers. Médine Zaouiche caused major controversy after announcing a concert date at the Bataclan theatre — the site of the deadly 2015 Islamist terror attack — due to the fact his latest album is entitled ‘Jihad’.
Patriotic French MPs went as far as signing a letter urging the venue to cancel the event due to Zaouiche’s anti-French lyrics, which included lyrics calling to “behead secularists”.
In 2016, rapper “Black M” also sparked outrage among many when he was scheduled to perform at the anniversary of the First World War battle of Verdun. Lyrics such as calling Frenchmen “Kouffars”, or infidels, caused many to voice their opposition to his performance and ultimately to have it cancelled altogether.