A Black theater performer in Canada is suing a racial justice activist for defamation after he was accused of performing with a puppet that reportedly depicts blackface.
Franck Sylvestre, a puppeteer based in Montreal, argued that the puppet he used in a theater piece called “L’incroyable secret de barbe noire” — “The Incredible Secret of Blackbeard” — was not a racist caricature as purported by activist Alain Babineau.
Sylvestre was scheduled to perform that play in several Montreal-area suburbs last year during Black History Month. However, organizations like the Red Coalition and the West Island Black Community Association urged those communities to cancel the shows, telling them that the puppet Sylvestre used was a caricature of blackface. Babineau is the Red Coalition’s director of racial profiling and public safety.
Blackface was established by white stage performers in 19th-century minstrel shows who painted their faces black to portray Black people in their plays and propagate racist stereotypes.
Sylvestre, who is originally from France, often tells stories in his performances based on his knowledge of Africa and the Antilles, according to CBC.
“That affected him a lot,” Sylvestre’s lawyer, Guillaume Rousseau, said. “He’s proud of being a Black artist, he’s proud to talk about Martinique, about his origins, and the puppet in question is a bit of a hero, so for him, it’s very positive, it’s for living together, and to see it interpreted in an unreasonable manner, as if it was racist, that affected him in particular.”
In September 2022, Sylvestre sent an official notice to Babineau demanding that he publicly retract the comments he made about him and his puppet.
Just this month, he also filed a defamation lawsuit against Babineau, accusing the activist of “falsely and deliberately” saying the puppet used blackface and went on a campaign to condemn the puppet’s use for “political reasons.”
His suit states Babineau made statements on social media and during a news conference connecting Sylvestre to “the submissiveness of Black people to white people, white supremacy. and the dehumanization of Black people.” Sylvestre alleges that his show is seen as “controversial,” and organizers no longer book him. He seeks $26,600 in damages.
“I thought it would blow over, but there was something inside of me that felt unresolved,” Sylvestre told CBC News. “This is bigger than me. This is something that affects all artists and freedom of expression that we are entitled to and need to have to be able to create.”
Sylvestre asserted that the puppet is a caricature of himself and was never created to depict blackface. He also said that the outcry was “blown out of proportion” by people who never saw the show, which he has been performing since 2010.
“They never got to see what the purpose was, what message it brought, and they decided that the image was associated to something negative,” Sylvestre said. “That’s very reductive and I don’t do reductive things.”
The Red Coalition addressed the lawsuit in a statement while defending Babineau’s criticisms about the puppet’s appearance.
“Despite the lawsuit brought against him by Mr. Sylvestre, Mr. Babineau has the full support of the Red Coalition,” the statement read. “The organization remains steadfast, refusing to be swayed or intimidated by Mr. Sylvestre’s actions and the Red Coalition’s legal team is prepared to vigorously defend against the lawsuit, which they deem frivolous.”
