The racism scandal surrounding a party video on Sylt with racist slogans caused a stir nationwide. Numerous events are now banning the song “L’Amour toujours” by Gigi D’Agostino because it has racist connotations. The star DJ cannot understand this. All developments in the ticker.
Thursday, June 6th, 8:11 p.m.: The excitement surrounding the racist chants on Sylt has calmed down somewhat. Now the author of the song “L’Amour toujours”, Gigi D’Agostino, has spoken out about the scandal for the first time. In the video in question, the Sylt group sang the racist slogan “Germany for the Germans, foreigners out” to the melody of his song. The star DJ cannot understand that.
“None of them will ever have seriously heard my song. It’s about love, about the universal feeling of unity. The lyrics are unmistakable,” says the Italian in an interview with “Spiegel”.
D’Agostino does not understand why there is now a discussion about his song and why some organizers, including UEFA and the Oktoberfest, have even banned it. “People talk about an innocent song because it is much easier than talking about racism,” says the musician, who criticizes a “barroom debate” and says that this sends a “doubly wrong message.”
“They censor a love song out of fear of racists. And they banish me, a foreigner, from the country in this way,” Gigi D’Agostino rants to “Spiegel” and criticizes an “absurd, medieval gesture. How can the Oktoberfest, this huge event, speak out against love?”
He brushes aside the response that racist slogans are being shouted in response to his song. “Anyone who wants to sing racist slogans doesn’t need my song for that. Does the ban solve any problem? No, it gives a few racists an incredible amount of power and importance.”
Wednesday, May 29, 3:10 p.m.: After making racist comments about a party hit, two security guards at Suhl’s initial reception center for refugees have been fired. They are said to have played the well-known song “L’amour toujours” by Gigi D’Agostino on a smartphone while on duty on Saturday night and made xenophobic comments, as a spokeswoman for the police in Suhl confirmed on Wednesday when asked. They are also said to have sung the line “Foreigners out”. The newspaper “Freies Wort” was the first to report this.
A colleague recorded the scene on Sunday and filed a complaint against both of them. The police spokeswoman said they were investigating on suspicion of incitement. A spokesperson for the State Administration Office reported that the two employees were immediately suspended by the security company and had already been terminated on May 29.
According to the police, one of the accused has filed a counter-charge for breach of confidentiality by recording and defamation. The video sequences are currently being evaluated, they said.
3.16 p.m.: The Professional Association of Disc Jockeys (BVD) has criticized the planned ban on performances of the party hit “L’Amour toujours” at the Munich Oktoberfest and other German folk festivals. “This is catastrophic. Where are we to censor songs?” said BVD President Dirk Wöhler to the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND).
The song, which is often used for racist slogans, will therefore not be played at all at some folk festivals. The 20-year-old party hit will be banned at the Oktoberfest, the Cannstatter Volksfest and the Stuttgart fan zone for the European Football Championships, among others.
“Banning the song means giving in to the right-wing extremists,” said BVD President Wöhler. He strongly condemns the rewriting of the hit with right-wing extremist lyrics. Nevertheless, the incidents should not be a reason for a ban. “The song should be played right now to show that we are multicultural.”
Tuesday, May 28, 7:50 a.m.: Because of the video with racist shouting on Sylt, the Hamburg student is facing expulsion proceedings at the HAW Hamburg. The university announced this on Monday. “For this purpose, the president has convened the Expulsion Committee for further advice and support, which will also be made up of students,” the HAW Hamburg wrote on social media. “The student will be banned from the premises for two months, which also extends to attending classes.”
In its justification, the HAW Hamburg writes that the “university is a place where people are welcome regardless of their nationality, ethnic origin, religion or ideology, disability or sexual identity.”
12.42 p.m.: The well-known song “L’Amour toujours” by Gigi D’Agostino has recently been increasingly misused for racist slogans. It has therefore now been decided that the song will not be played at the Munich Oktoberfest. An explicit instruction has been sent to all hosts and showmen, as “BR” reports.
“We want to ban it and I will ban it,” Oktoberfest boss Clemens Baumgärtner told the German Press Agency on Monday, referring to the song by Italian DJ Gigi D’Agostino. “There is no room for all that right-wing crap at the Oktoberfest.” The song itself is not right-wing radical, but it has acquired a “very clear right-wing radical connotation,” Baumgärtner said.
12.23 p.m.: At a student party at the elite Louisenlund boarding school in Güby (Schleswig-Holstein), a scandal involving racist slogans broke out. “Underage students are said to have sung ‘Foreigners out. Germany for the Germans’ while the well-known song L’Amour toujours by Gigi D’Agostino was played.” The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture told “Spiegel” on Monday.
The teachers then called off the celebration and sent the students to bed. The ministry also ordered an investigation by the school inspectorate. The boarding school itself plans to comment on the incident on Monday. According to “Spiegel”, the management of the Louisenlund Foundation plans to discuss possible sanctions.
“All students must be aware that singing such slogans is not a joke,” said Schleswig-Holstein’s Education Minister Karin Prien. Youthful exuberance or alcohol are no justification for racist chants. Prien fears further imitations. The boarding school costs around 50,000 euros per year, making it one of the more upscale German private schools.
4:53 p.m.: In response to the video of racist yelling on Sylt, several dozen people gathered for a vigil in the island town of Kampen. The event on Sunday afternoon with around 70 to 80 participants went off without a hitch, said a police spokeswoman. A coalition of civil society groups from Sylt called for the protest. One poster read, for example, “Sylt. Top left. Not right!”
At the rally, the organizers said of the incident at the Pony bar, which was documented on video: “It is upsetting and it makes you worry that something like this is happening here on Sylt.”
There will also be a demonstration next Sunday under the motto “Sylt against the right!” “We are taking a clear stance: racism and right-wing extremist ideas have no place on Sylt. Whether you are an island resident or a tourist, we stand for a colorful and livable island,” said a representative of “Sylt against the right”.
1:41 p.m.: A spectator is said to have shown the Hitler salute after the final of the Hessen Cup between Kickers Offenbach and Türk Gücü Friedberg. State security is investigating after a corresponding video appeared on social networks, as the police announced on Sunday in response to a request. “hessenschau.de” had previously reported.
The video shows Kickers supporters provoking Türk Gücü fans with obscene gestures. One supporter also gives the Hitler salute. This is a criminal offense in Germany. “We have secured the video,” said a police spokesman. Officers noticed the video on the final day on Saturday.
Offenbach won the cup final in Frankfurt 3-2. The traditional club distanced itself from the incident on Sunday. It “deeply condemns the behavior of the people concerned,” it said in a statement. “We will support all necessary measures to identify the people concerned.”
12.31 p.m.: After a racist incident at the Bergkirchweih in Erlangen, the festival hosts and the mayor of the city, Florian Janik (SPD), have clearly distanced themselves from it. In addition, the restaurateurs decided not to play the song “L’amour toujours” by the Italian DJ Gigi D’Agostino at the festival. On Friday evening, according to the police, two visitors chanted racist slogans to the song. The State Security Department of the Erlangen Criminal Investigation Department has launched an investigation – and the 21 and 26 year old suspects have also been banned from entering the Bergkirchweih, according to the police.
Two police officers from Essen, who were attending the festival privately on Friday, notified security and called the police because two guests shouted “Foreigners out”. The suspects were expelled from the festival.
09:56: The “Pony” wants to file a civil suit to claim damages from the identified hooligans, reports “Bild”. The operators of the Sylt club had already filed criminal charges.
The club’s co-managing director, Tom Kind, told Bild: “Our brand has been massively damaged by these events. In addition, one of our cooperation partners has pulled out and temporarily terminated the collaboration.” The extent of the damage is not yet known, however.
08.21 a.m.: Moritz N. was one of the hooligans in the scandalous video on Sylt, and even gave a Hitler salute. Now the young man has apologized for his behavior on social media, as “Bild” reports. “I want to apologize publicly and sincerely for what happened. I apologize to everyone we may have hurt,” he wrote. He made a “very bad mistake” and will face the legal consequences.
Moritz N. says he cannot explain his behavior: he was drunk, his actions did not reflect his inner attitude. He claims that he has friends with a migrant background and that he was raised to be open-minded and tolerant. However, the young man is also aware that his apology will not convince many people. “I can imagine that many people who are reading this now will not believe that I am so very sorry,” he writes, according to “Bild”.
N. also asks people not to be hostile towards his friends and family. According to “Bild”, this is the main reason why he is going public. “It was my mistake, and only I should take responsibility for it, not my friends and relatives who were not there. So my request is: be angry with me, but not with my friends and relatives.” He has deleted his social media accounts, but will continue to follow the discussion about him.
6:33 a.m.: The operators of the affected bar on Sylt have filed criminal charges against the rioters: “If our staff had noticed such behavior at any time, we would have reacted immediately. We would have immediately informed the police and filed a criminal complaint. We have now been able to do that,” wrote the operators of the well-known Pony bar in the upscale holiday resort of Kampen on Instagram.
The people in question have been identified and reported. “We do not tolerate this deeply antisocial behavior. We never have and we never will. That is why we are now taking action against it with all means at our disposal. Racism and fascism have no place in our society.”
Sunday, May 26, 2:20 a.m.: The Federal Government’s anti-Semitism commissioner, Felix Klein, sees the racist incident in a bar on Sylt as evidence of the penetration of misanthropic ideology into society. “The recordings of the shouted racist re-text of a well-known song on Sylt shock me,” he told the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND). “Not because I am surprised by the existence of such misanthropic ideology, but because it has clearly become part of pop culture and socially acceptable in a milieu that should be aware that foreigners make a significant contribution to our prosperity.” Klein added: “Anyone who calls for ‘Germany for the Germans’ in classic Nazi fashion is thereby excluding all supposedly ‘non-German’ groups that are supposedly less valuable, including people with a migration background, Sinti and Roma, but also Jews. I am glad that such behavior does not go unpunished.”
6:06 p.m.: Around two days after the first case, a second incident involving racist slogans was reported on Sylt. It also occurred on Pentecost in the “Club Rotes Kliff”, one of the trendy clubs in the posh Kampen. The club itself announced this on Instagram. Those responsible emphasize that they acted immediately. “Unfortunately, we also had a racist incident at Pentecost. We expelled the people we could find from the club and banned them from the premises,” the club’s statement said.
Again, the singing was to the tune of the hit “L’amour Toujours” by Italian DJ Gigi D’Agostino. Peter Kliem, the operator of the “Club Rotes Kliff”, condemned this in the strongest terms to the “Bild”: “Using a world-famous party song to propagate racism and discrimination is pathetic and disgusting.” Kliem also emphasized the club’s long-standing tradition of diversity and openness and made it clear that any form of racism and xenophobia is strictly rejected.
Read more about the scandalous video on Sylt on the next page.
