Overview
- The drawing shows Diallo styled as Joséphine Baker with a banana skirt and was published on December 24 in a special issue.
- The cartoon is signed by editor Riss and accompanies an article titled “Rokhaya Diallo, la petite fiancée de l’Amérique” in a series on “fossoyeurs de la laïcité.”
- Diallo called the image racist and rooted in colonial tropes, saying it seeks to remind her of a racial and sexist hierarchy.
- Left-wing politicians, including numerous LFI lawmakers and PS leader Olivier Faure, backed Diallo, with Faure invoking imagery of colonial exhibitions and “human zoos.”
- The magazine rejected the allegation as “manipulation” and has issued no apology or retraction, with the dispute renewing attention to its contested role and security since 2015.