Tonight, we’re staying in: Patrick Bruel cancels his summer shows
The 67-year-old actor and singer faces a growing number of rape and assault complaints. Several French mayors had urged him not to perform in their towns, and three Quebec shows scheduled for December were cancelled on 19 May.
By Serge Duchêne
Published on 30/05/2026 - 11:54 GMT+2
The discontent of municipalities and of performances disrupted by feminist activists (source in French), not to mention a rising tide of outrage on social media, have finally prevailed.
Patrick Bruel’s production company, 14 Productions, announced early on Friday 29 May that it was cancelling the concerts of the singer, who is the subject of several complaints of sexual violence, that were scheduled this summer in Paris and at festivals.
“Several festival organisers” where Patrick Bruel was due to perform “have reported coming under pressure and being prevented from calmly organising their events”, said the production company run by the artist in a statement, explaining that it did not wish “to expose either the organisers or the public to a climate of tension”.
“In a spirit of de-escalation and responsibility, Patrick Bruel has decided, in agreement with festival organisers, to cancel the concerts scheduled from June to September.”
His three concerts scheduled from 16 to 18 June at the Cirque d'Hiver in Paris have also been cancelled. However, the next dates on his tour, in October and November, are, for the time being, still going ahead.
Patrick Bruel is for now still expected in Laval (Mayenne) on 3 October, in Petit-Quevilly (Seine-Maritime) on 18 October, in Caen (Calvados) on 19 October, in Nantes (Loire-Atlantique) on 7 November, in Brest (Finistère) on 11 November and in Angers (Maine-et-Loire) on 12 November.
A petition by feminist associations calling for his tour to be cancelled had previously gathered more than 47 000 signatures (source in French)
Several mayors, including those of Paris and Marseille, had also urged him to give up performing in their cities. Since in most places the venues are owned by private organisations, town halls therefore “have no leverage over the programming of concerts or festivals”, explainsL'Obs (source in French).
The singer’s first dates abroad - in Quebec, Switzerland and Belgium - were, by contrast, cancelled directly by the organisers.
The singer and actor has decided not to take part in the next charity shows by Les Enfoirés, in aid of Restos du cœur, a significant decision given the public esteem for this group of artists and public figures, and the fact that Bruel is the artist who has most often been invited (33 times) on the tours of the famous show broadcast on TF1.
On Thursday 21 May, the junior minister for gender equality, Aurore Bergé, told RTL that it was up to the artist to decide whether he wished to carry on being on stage, highlighting the individual freedom to go or not.
Ultimately, as he had previously done for Slimane, Bertrand Cantat and Jean-Luc Lahaye, who have also faced accusations of violence, presenter and producer Nagui has decided to remove Patrick Bruel’s songs from the catalogue of his programme 'N'oubliez pas les paroles' on France 2, Le Parisien (source in French) revealed this Thursday 28 May.
The radio station RFM, owned by the Lagardère group and therefore controlled by Vincent Bolloré, has, for its part, decided to stop playing songs by the singer of 'Casser la voix'.
Patrick Bruel, 67, is the subject of at least eight complaints of sexual assault in France and an investigation for sexual assault in Belgium. He denies all the accusations against him. Among his accusers is television presenter Flavie Flament, who says she was raped by him in 1991, when she was 16.
Additional sources • AFP, Le Monde, franceinfo, Ouest-France
