Eagles Of Death Metal pulled from French festivals over Jesse Hughes' comments

Jesse Hughes
Jesse Hughes

French music festivals Rock en Seine and Cabaret Vert have pulled Eagles Of Death Metal from their August events following renewed allegations from Jesse Hughes over the Paris Bataclan attacks.

In March, Hughes said he felt something was amiss with security at the venue before extremist gunmen forced their way into the concert hall – allegations which the Bataclan branded “grave and defamatory.” He later apologised for his “absurd” remarks, saying that they were the result of trauma.

But the frontman now says that he thinks the terrorists were in the venue early and also claims he witnessed Muslims “celebrating in the streets” when he escaped during the massacre.

Hughes tells TakiMag: “There’s no denying the terrorists were already inside, and they had to get in somehow. During the shooting I went outside and the backstage door was propped open. How did that happen?

“I saw Muslims celebrating in the street during the attack. I saw it with my own eyes. In real time. How did they know what was going on? There must have been coordination.”

He continues: “There were two girls who were involved. They were at the venue and vanished before the shooting, and these women were in traditional Muslim garb. They knew people wouldn’t check them because of the way they were dressed. They got caught a few days later.”

But Hughes’ comments have sparked anger with both Rock en Seine and Cabaret Vert, who issued a joint statement saying: “As we are in total disagreement with Jesse Hughes’ recent allegations given in an interview with an American media outlet, both Cabaret Vert and Rock en Seine festivals have decided to cancel the band’s performance.”

A total of 130 people were killed during the terrorist attacks in Paris last November – with 89 of them losing their lives at the Eagles Of Death Metal show.

Ex-girlfriend of Bataclan victim describes moment he died in her arms

Opinion: Maybe it's time for Jesse Hughes to take a break

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.

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