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Rabat – French comedian Julien Cazarre has found himself embroiled in a major controversy after mocking and making disrespectful remarks about Moroccan football player Achraf Hakimi, triggering a wave of anger and criticism on social media.
Appearing on the “Rothe s’enflamme” podcast on Thursday, Cazarre spoke about the relationship between Hakimi and his friend and Paris Saint-Germain teammate Kylian Mbappe, suggesting that Hakimi is “Mbappe’s dog.”
As the PSG duo are currently spending their time off in the US, the French comedian mimicked French player Kylian as saying: “I will go there with my dog … my dog Achraf.” Cazarre then proceeded to mimic Hakimi, as he started barking.
Cazarre proceeded to imitate Kylian while talking with Hakimi, saying: “Do you want a candy bar? He follows me everywhere. Even during France-Morocco’s game, he was glued to my sneakers.”
“Hein my Achraf,” Cazarre continued, pronouncing the name Achraf in a way that sounded like barking.
When mimicking Hakimi’s speech, the French comedian started making fun of the Moroccan player’s accent and spoke in a way that resembles that of a gullible person.
Read also: German Channel Apologizes After Islamophobic Comments Against Moroccan Players
Cazarre’s offensive remarks have unsurprisingly triggered widespread outrage, with several netizens taking to social media to condemn his statements.
In a statement on Twitter, Moroccan journalist Salek Boujdour condemned Cazzare’s remarks and described it as “abhorrent racism.” He also criticized the channel RMC Sport for not deleting the podcast episode or issuing an apology in this regard.
Other social media users echoed Boujdour’s thoughts, with a Twitter user saying: “When it’s to insult a Muslim, it’s freedom of expression. But if it concerns someone else, all media would be indignant. It’s the French reality.”
This was not the first time that Moroccan players were the victim of shockingly racist and disrespectful remarks by Western media.
During the Atlas Lions’ journey at the World Cup in Qatar, a Danish TV channel compared images of Moroccan players celebrating with their families to a “family of monkeys,” a comparison that outraged many viewers.
In addition, a German news outlet made controversial remarks about some Moroccan footballer players, particularly Zakaria Aboukhlal, for doing the “Tawhid” sign during their World Cup games.
While the Tawhid sign, which is done by raising the index finger, is used by Muslims to signify the oneness of God, the German news outlet claimed that the Moroccan players’ use of the sign could be interpreted as sympathy for the terrorist group ISIS.
