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French parliamentary election 2012

Le Pen's Front National to sue Madonna over swastika video

France’s far-right Front National (FN) is planning to sue Madonna over a video that shows party leader and former presidential candidate Marine Le Pen with a swastika on her forehead. The video was shown at a concert the US-born singer gave in Tel Aviv on Thursday.

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For the backdrop when she performed the song Nobody knows me in Tel Aviv, Madonna chose a video in which her face was collaged with a number of well-known individuals, ranging from Chinese leader Hu Jinatao to US politician Sarah Palin and from Pope Benedict XVI to Marine Le Pen.

In a split second Le Pen’s eyes and forehead appear with a swastika on them, before her whole face appears, followed by an image resembling Adolf Hitler.

The 53-year-old star is famous for provocative stunts, although less well-known as a commentator on French politics.

Contacted by the 20 Minutes freesheet, the FN said that Le Pen had not had time to watch the video on Friday because she was writing a speech for a rally in Paris that evening.

But a party official called it “incredible” and said that the party’s lawyer, Wallerand de Saint-Just, had been asked to look into what legal action could be taken over it.

“We’ll make money with the case we’re going to bring,” an anonymous source told 20 Minutes.

Le Pen said on Sunday that the party would be watching very closely to see if Madonna uses the video when she performs in Paris on the 14 July national holiday and in Nice on 21 August, without saying whether she will be taking legal action.

Marine Le Pen has tried to clean up the image of the far-right party, whose leadership she inherited from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, distancing herself from supporters who openly sympathise with the Nazi persecution of the Jews.

An opinion poll Friday found that 51 per cent of those polled considered the FN an ordinary political party, compared to 42 per cent who judged it “not like other parties”.

Marine Le Pen won 17.9 per cent in last month's presidential election and is currently standing for election to the National Assembly.

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