France has a complicated history with race, and a very straightforward history with racism. And that was on full display on a recent episode of TMC’s Quotidien.
You may remember that being the program that Rae Sremmurd made an appearance on, one that left some viewers wondering if they were being laughed with or at.
There was no such ambiguity on an episode last week that focused on dogs and cats. In the chat segment, actress and writer Reem Kherici and actress Alice Belaïdi joined host Yann Barthès at his signature circular table.
Barthès asked Belaïdi why she named her dog Jill.
Belaïdi replied, “Because she looks like, according to me, it’s very subjective, to Jill Scott, the singer.”
Barthès then asked for the cover of Scott’s Beautifully Human to be put onscreen, so that everyone at home could see what Belaïdi was talking about. A side-by-side comparison followed.
While Belaïdi clearly thought the whole thing hilarious, and Barthès sat chuckling at his desk, Kherici and the rest of the studio audience didn’t seem to find comparing excellent singer, human rights champion and all-around lovely human being Jill Scott to a dog quite as amusing.
Barthès, perhaps coming to his senses, did finally say, “They don’t look alike at all.”
But Belaïdi, missing the offered rescue, as is always the case, doubled down, telling all of France, “They have the same nose, don’t argue.”
“No, but Jill Scott is much prettier!” Barthès argued back, “She doesn’t look like a dog.”
“She sings much better,” Belaïdi conceded, saying of Scott “she’s also my favorite singer.”
We’re sure Ms. Scott appreciates you honoring her as your favorite by naming your dog after her. Belaïdi, why don’t you make someone else your favorite for your next dog, maybe Sean Spicer or al-Baghdadi?
Until then, we’ll be shaking our heads at you, and at your little dog too.
The full video is here; if you don't speak French, AJ+ has the juicy bits in translation:
"They have the same nose."
A black singer was compared to a dog on French TV. pic.twitter.com/QcbMLtJJmT
— AJ+ (@ajplus) April 19, 2017