“Mint color in water”: Eddy Mitchell condemns the anti-Semitic version of one of his songs

Singer Eddy Mitchell and his label Universal Music France condemned this Saturday the misappropriation of the hit “Couleur mint à l’eau”. It was covered with anti-Semitic and negationist lyrics during the festival of a far-right movement in 2023. A video, revealed by Mediapart, shows an individual changing the text of this love song released in 1980, during an event organized by Égalité & Réconciliation, by Alain Soral, racist activist and multi-convicted negationist.

Eddy Mitchell and his label “have requested the immediate removal of this video and condemn in the strongest terms the extremely serious anti-Semitic and Holocaust denial lyrics that this individual substituted for the original lyrics,” Universal Music France wrote in a press release.

The Minister Delegate in charge of Equality between women and men and the fight against discrimination, Aurore Bergé, announced earlier this week that she was making a report to the public prosecutor. “We will never accept the trivialization of anti-Semitism, wherever it comes from, whether from the extreme left or the extreme right,” she declared, believing that in this specific case, the anti-Semitic character was “in no doubt”.

Six decades of career

With his crooner’s voice, Eddy Mitchell is one of the faces of French song. His six-decade career was marked by hits like “No Boogie-Woogie,” “He’s Not Coming Home Tonight” and “You Can Make the Coffee Black.”

Aged 83, he remains active with “Amigos”, his 40th album released last year. But he had to cancel a tour planned for this summer due to health concerns.