Madonna Alters Concert Video That Had Angered French Political Party

By DAVE ITZKOFF

Madonna appears to have conceded in a war of words (and pictures) with France's National Front political party, and has toned down an image shown in her concerts that once depicted Marine Le Pen, the president of that far-right party, with a swastika on her head.

During her current European tour, Madonna has performed her song “Nobody Knows Me” accompanied by a video that rapidly shows the faces of various current and historical political and religious figures, including Sarah Palin, Pope Benedict XVI and President Hu Jintao of China, as well as various symbols, like dollar signs, Euro marks and religious symbols, including Jewish stars.

At one point the montage displayed Ms. Le Pen with a swastika projected on her face, followed by an image of Hitler with a swastika in the same position. The National Front party said last month that it was planning to sue Madonna for what it called a “very serious insult”; the singer defended the imagery saying it was appropriate for a song about “the intolerance that we human beings have for one another.”

The Guardian reported that at a concert performed on Tuesday in Nice, Madonna played an amended version of the video, showing a question mark on Ms. Le Pen's face rather than a swastika.

Gaël Nofri, the leader of a conservative group in Nice that supports the National Front party, told Agence France-Presse: “It's proof that our arguments won out. It's excellent news.” The Guardian cited French newspapers that variously described the video's alteration as “calming the controversy” or an act of appeasement.

From the stage, Madonna railed against “intolerance” and praised “human dignity,” while reiterating her support for Pussy Riot, the Russian punk band whose members were each sentenced to two years in prison for protesting President Vladimir V. Putin at an Orthodox cathedral in Moscow.

Ms. Le Pen's fa ther, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of the National Front party, was found guilty in February of condoning war crimes after he said the Nazi occupation of France during World War II had “not been particularly inhumane, even if there were blunders.” He was given a fine of $13,000 and a suspended sentence of three months.