French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy used influence to cancel the Louvre rock festival, fearing it would overshadow a series of concerts aimed to raise funds for Aids sufferers, it has emerged.
The ministry of culture refused permission to hold the open air-gig in the courtyard of the Louvre museum, due to take place on 18-19 June, citing it "unsuitable" and potentially unsafe for such a "sensitive" and historic site.
However, a French investigative newspaper has claimed that the president's wife, who is an official Aids ambassador for the UN, made the call.
Apparently, the singer did not want the attention to be driven away from the Aids victims devoted concerts, scheduled to begin six days after the Louvre show.
The culture ministry also reasoned that a rock show would be "unwelcome" on 18 June, since it marked the 70th anniversary of General de Gaulle's radio appeal from London for a defeated France to continue the fight against Nazi Germany.
However, French newspaper Le Canard Enchainé claims Bruni-Sarkozy had made the objections directly.
The Inrockuptibles magazine, which organizes the festival, had even appealed to her to re-think, but received a negative response.
