Leslie Barbara Butch (born 17 March 1981) is a French

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

and lesbian activist. She campaigns for

fat acceptance The fat acceptance movement (also known by various other names, such as fat pride, fat empowerment, fat liberation, and fat activism) is a social movement which seeks to eliminate the social stigma of obesity. Areas of contention include the aest ...

and has made the short film ''Extra Large''. She was awarded the 2021 "''personnalité LGBTI de l'année''" ("LGBTI personality of the year") by the French Association of LGBTI Journalists. In 2024, she was featured in the

2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony The Olympic Games ceremony#Opening, opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics took place on 26 July 2024 across Paris, beginning at 19:30 Central European Summer Time, CEST (17:30 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC). As mandated by the Olympic ...

, which was criticized as controversial due to a perceived mockery of Christianity.

Early life

Leslie Barbara Butch was born on 17 March 1981 at the Marie-Louise Clinic in the

9th arrondissement of Paris The 9th arrondissement of Paris (''IXe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, it is referred to as (; "ninth"). The arrondissement, called Opéra, is located on the right bank of th ...

, where her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother were born before her. Her mother, a secretary of Ashkenazi Jewish descent and her father a house painter, was of Sephardic Jewish descent from Morocco Heidi, and she grew up in a traditional Jewish family. She grew up in the

7th arrondissement of Paris The 7th arrondissement of Paris (''VIIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 Arrondissements of Paris, arrondissements of the capital city of France. It is known for being, along with the 16th arrondissement and the ''commune'' of Neuilly-sur-Sein ...

, studied music theory, piano, Brazilian percussion and guitar in her teens, and created her own mixtapes and recorded cassettes. The

Eclaireuses et Eclaireurs israélites de France The Éclaireuses et Éclaireurs israélites de France (EEIF, ''Jewish Guides and Scouts of France'') is a Jewish Scouting and Guiding organization in France. It was founded in 1923 and serves about 4,000 members. The EEIF is a member of the Fé ...

''(Jewish Guides and Scouts of France'') was a key part of her life during those years. Later, she started going to Pulp, a leading Parisian club hosting lesbian parties.

Career

Butch started to build her DJ career playing in bars in

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

, initially using the DJ name "Scratcheuse de gazon" before reverting to her actual name. In 2008 she moved back to Paris, working at Rosa Bonheur and then other club venues such as the Machine du Moulin Rouge. On 5 February 2020 she posed naked on the cover of ''

Télérama ''Télérama'' is a weekly French language, French cultural and television magazine published in Paris, France. The name is a contraction of its earlier title: ''Télévision-Radio-Cinéma''. Fabienne Pascaud is currently managing editor. Ludovic ...

'' with the question: ‘Pourquoi on rejette les gros? (Why do we reject fat people?). This led to her becoming the face of

Jean Paul Gaultier Jean Paul Gaultier (; born 24 June 1952) is a French haute couture and Ready-to-wear, prêt-à-porter fashion designer. He is described as an "enfant terrible" of the fashion industry and is known for his unconventional designs with motifs in ...

's perfume La Belle Intense. In 2023, Butch was a guest celebrity judge in a

Season 2 Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album), 2014 * ''2econd Season'', an album by Unk, 2008 * "Season 2", a song by Phoenix from ''Alpha Zulu ''Alpha Zulu'' is the seventh studio album by French indie pop band Phoenix, released on 4 ...

episode of the French language reality television series ''

Drag Race France ''Drag Race France'' is a French reality competition television show part of the ''Drag Race'' franchise. Based on the original American series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', it is the ninth international adaptation of the show. The show is hosted by ...

'' (titled ''"The Musidrag"''), broadcast on

France.tv Slash France.tv Slash is a French public service television channel that is part of the France Télévisions network. It is dedicated to youth with programs for young adults. France.tv Slash is the first French public service channel to be fully dig ...

. In 2024, Butch carried the Paralympic Torch.

Controversy

On 26 July 2024, she performed at the Festivité section of the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

of the Olympic Games, mixing French variété classics in a set featuring actors from the

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

scene. A statement from Paris 2024 said that it was inspired by

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

's fresco ''

The Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, '' The Last Supper'' (1495-1498). Mural, tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic, 700 x 880 cm (22.9 x 28.8 ...

'', which depicts

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

and the

Twelve Apostles In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and minist ...

, while

Thomas Jolly Thomas Jolly (born 1 February 1982) is a French actor and artistic director of La Piccola Familia, a theatre company that he founded in Rouen in 2006. Jolly's early life in Normandy was marked by a strong interest in theater, performing from a ...

and the Olympic Games' X account stated that this represented an interpretation of the Greek deity

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...

. Art experts at

Musée Magnin The Musée Magnin is a national museum in the French city of Dijon in Burgundy, in the Côte-d'Or department, with a collection of around 2,000 works of art collected by Maurice Magnin and his sister Jeanne and bequeathed to the state in 1938, alon ...

say that the tableau was inspired by The Feast of the Gods by

Jan van Bijlert Jan Hermansz van Bijlert (1597 or 1598 – November 1671) was a Dutch Golden Age painter from Utrecht, one of the Utrecht Caravaggisti whose style was influenced by Caravaggio. He spent some four years in Italy and was one of the founders of th ...

. Due to that interpretation, the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...

responded that Christians around the world were angered, with the act being deemed

blasphemous Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...

by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Butch received a number of online threats after the performance, and stated through her lawyer that she would be filing legal complaints in response. The Olympic World Library later published a media guide (written before the ceremony) which mentioned it being a homage to cultural festivities. One Georgian fact checking website, Myth Detector alleged there were differences between the fresco and the segment.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Butch, Barbara 1981 births Living people LGBTQ DJs French DJs French lesbian musicians Fat acceptance activists 21st-century French women musicians French women activists French people of Moroccan descent French Ashkenazi Jews 21st-century French Sephardi Jews 21st-century French LGBTQ people Victims of cyberbullying Christianity-related mass media and entertainment controversies Jewish French musicians Jewish women musicians Lesbian Jews 21st-century French musicians Jewish women activists Jewish hip-hop record producers