Booba denounces to justice the “misleading commercial practices of influencers”

Europe 1 with AFP 7:58 p.m., July 29, 2022

Rapper Booba has denounced to justice what he considers to be "misleading commercial practices" of "influencers" linked to the popess of reality TV Magali Berdah, who accuses him of harassment, according to his complaints revealed by Release and consulted Friday by AFP.

The singer, whose real name is Elie Yaffa, has filed two complaints against X for deceptive commercial practices and organized fraud, notably involving Shauna Events, one of the most important "influencer" agencies in France, directed by Magali Berdah.

"He takes it to heart to denounce what seems to him to be an injustice"

“He takes it to heart to denounce what appears to him to be an injustice (…) He gives himself the means to shed light on (the environment) influencers who rely on fakes: fake stars, fake products, but real harm to the consumer," said his lawyer Me Patrick Klugman.

According to the complaints consulted by AFP, "there appears to be a complex and organized scam system, centralized by the company Shauna Events", "system fed by the passivity of social networks and particularly Instagram and Snapchat used by influencers to promote scams".

These complaints, filed on Tuesday, list several testimonials from consumers received by the rapper and claiming to have been defrauded by companies promoted by influencers linked to Shauna Events: merchandise not received and not refunded, non-compliant products, etc. 

Booba accused of harassment 

For several months, Magali Berdah has been accusing Booba of harassment and has obtained the opening of an investigation.

This has been open to the National Pole for the Fight against Online Hate (PNLH) of the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office since June 1, in particular for death threats, harassment by means of electronic communication, public insult on the grounds of origin and sex, confirmed the Paris prosecutor's office.

In a press release in mid-July, Magali Berdah accused Booba of targeting her on social networks for several months "by false and humiliating publications".

"Since then, I have suffered mass online harassment", with thousands of daily messages, she confided.

She then announced that the President of the Judicial Court had ordered the deletion of the rapper's Instagram account ("@OKLM").

"This is just the beginning, more victories will come," said the influencer.

Booba immediately announced that he intended to attack this closure order and quickly opened a new Instagram account.