France: rapper Booba sentenced to 3 months in prison after his attacks on a journalist

The rapper Booba, whose real name is Élie Yaffa, was convicted by the Paris correctional court in a case of cyberbullying and racist insults targeting journalist Linh-Lan Dao from France Télévisions and franceinfo.fr. The court imposed a three-month suspended prison sentence and a €30,000 fine for posts published in January 2024 on the social network X, formerly Twitter. This sentence comes with a simple suspension. Therefore, the rapper will not go to prison unless he faces another conviction that could lead to the revocation of the suspension. However, he will have to pay the fine imposed and the damages awarded to the journalist for the moral harm suffered.

In another aspect addressed during the same hearing, Booba was also sentenced to €20,000 for racial insult against essayist and columnist Tristan Mendès France. The latter had publicly denounced the attacks against Linh-Lan Dao before himself becoming the target of messages from the rapper. The actions attributed to Booba date back to January 2024. After the publication of an article portraying the rapper as a “conspiracy theorist” about vaccines and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, he reacted on X by directly targeting journalist Linh-Lan Dao.

According to the elements retained by the court, Booba had shared her identity and face with his millions of followers, alongside sexist, degrading statements related to her Asian origins. These messages led to a wave of hatred, insults, and online attacks against the journalist.

For the judges, the relevant publications did not fall under simple controversy or journalistic criticism. They were considered to far exceed the limits of freedom of expression, due to their insulting, discriminatory nature and their massive exposure effect on social networks.

The court particularly highlighted the imbalance between the broadcast power of an artist followed by more than six million subscribers and the situation of a journalist individually targeted. In this context, the court reiterated the special responsibility of public figures with a significant online audience.

Tristan Mendès France also targeted

The case also involved comments targeting Tristan Mendès France, an essayist and specialist in conspiracy discourse. After publicly denouncing the cyberbullying faced by Linh-Lan Dao, he was in turn targeted by Booba in several messages published online.

The court affirmed the qualification of racial insult against him. The judges notably believed that the allusions made to the essayist’s nose could not be reduced to a mere mockery. They were analyzed as a reiteration of an old and historically charged anti-Semitic stereotype.

This evaluation justified the rapper’s conviction to a €20,000 fine in this second case. For the court, the comments in question were public insults of a racial nature, not part of the usual tone of exchanges on social media.

A decision made after a trial in the absence of the rapper

The trial took place on April 1, 2026, before the Paris correctional court, in the absence of Booba, who resides abroad and did not attend the hearing. During the debates, the public prosecutor had requested eight months of suspended prison, a €30,000 fine, and a workshop on raising awareness against online hatred. The prosecutor argued that the rapper had knowingly used his large following to expose the journalist to a campaign of attacks.

After deliberating on the decision, the court ultimately imposed a three-month suspended prison sentence, which was less than the prosecution’s request regarding the term of the suspended imprisonment. However, the €30,000 fine sought for the actions against Linh-Lan Dao was confirmed.

This conviction adds to other proceedings against Booba related to his online activity and public confrontations with journalists, influencers, or other personalities. The rapper now has the option to appeal.

Beyond the individual case of the artist, this decision illustrates the growing desire of the French justice system to more firmly sanction hate campaigns orchestrated on social media. It also reminds us that fame and online audience can be aggravating factors when targeted publications expose a person to massive harassment.