Decryption | Natasha St-Pier causes controversy in France

An altercation involving Acadian singer Natasha St-Pier and the insult “little slut” caused a stir this week in France. Decryption of this quarrel which should have remained private, but which ignited social networks all week.

Dance with the stars

The quarrel pits Natasha St-Pier against Inès Reg, a comedian from stand-up French, both participants in the current season of Dance with the stars, broadcast on TF1. Although the affair was reported on X in mid-March, the facts date back to January 31, during the first week of filming. The two women rehearsed in separate rooms. Flanked by a cameraman and a journalist, Inès Reg went to knock on Natasha St-Pier’s door to ask her to turn down the volume. The comedian and Natasha St-Pier’s dance partner, Anthony Colette, started talking, and in the process, Natasha St-Pier, 43, called Inès Reg a “little slut.”

Bad joke or insult?

Faced with the media hype, Inès Reg and Natasha St-Pier both shared their versions of the facts on their social networks this week. In what tone was “little slut” pronounced, and in what context? For Inès Reg, who said she “held back her tears”, it was an insult, period. Natasha St-Pier claims to have perceived the exchange between Inès Reg and the dancer Anthony Colette as a sarcastic “game”, involving “characters”, and claims to have also wanted to “give moments” to the camera. She admits to having said to Inès Reg: “Now, you little slut, get out of here”, in reference to an insult pronounced by ex-journalist Valérie Trierweiler against Inès Reg and her sister on the show Beijing Expressin 2022.

Three-day “break”

Just after the altercation, Natasha St-Pier wanted to apologize, but Inès Reg refused. There is no consensus on what follows. Inès Reg maintains that she remained “calm”, while the Acadian singer affirms that the French comedian instead covered her dance partner, Anthony Colette, with a “torrent of insults”. At the request of production, Natasha St-Pier took three days of “break” to calm things down (which Inès Reg perceives more as a disciplinary measure). Inès Reg maintains that after this suspension, the other dancers on the show “turned their backs” on her, refusing to applaud her after her performances.

Handrail

Because she felt “threatened”, Natasha St-Pier filed a handrail, a procedure which allows the facts to be reported to the police, and not to initiate a prosecution. By revealing the affair on March 21, The Parisian wrote that Natasha St-Pier accused the comedian of “death threats”, but the interpreter of I only have my soul subsequently qualified: she maintains that Inès Reg would have asked a third person to tell them to go “fuck their dead”. Inès Reg considers herself a victim of racism. “I am the Arab from 93 in this story,” pleads the 31-year-old young woman. The altercation was filmed, but TF1 chose not to broadcast the sequence. The latest news is that both women are still participating in the show.