France - Miss France 2021 runner-up targeted by antisemitic tweets

Published on December 20, in Forbes

On Saturday evening, Miss Normandy Amandine Petit won the Miss France crown in a nail-biter thanks to a tie-breaker over Miss Provence April Benayoum. During an interview at the ceremony, April Benayoum noted that her father had roots in Israel.

Following her remarks, April Benayoum found herself the subject of anti-semitic statements on Twitter. In recent years, France has been struggling with rising anti-semitism even as politicians denounce remarks and acts of violence aimed at its Jewish population, the third largest in the world after Israel and the United States.

The latest flurry of antisemitic tweets drew widespread condemnation and threats of legal action in France.

France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said he was “profoundly shocked” and was “embarrassed for the authors” of the tweets. He also said the nation’s police “are mobilized” to find the people behind the tweets.

Minister of Citizenship Marlene Schiappa also tweeted that the beauty competition is “not a contest of anti-semitism. All my support to April Benayoum, target of anti-semitic remarks and an incredible violence all evening after evoking her origins.”