Dieudonné M'bala M'bala

Dieudonné M'bala M'bala (born 11 February 1966), generally known by his stage name Dieudo, is a French comedian, actor and far-right political activist.

He has been convicted for hate speech, advocating terrorism, and slander in Belgium, France and Switzerland.

Dieudonné initially achieved success working with comedian Élie Semoun, humorously exploiting racial stereotypes.

In the 1990s, they appeared on stage and on television together as "Élie et Dieudonné".

From the mid-1990s Dieudonné appeared in several French film comedies, primarily in supporting roles.

In 1992, a Paris comedian spotted them and helped them stage their first professional show.

He was a candidate in the 1997 and 2001 legislative elections in Champagny-en-Vanoise against the National Front.

In 1997 they split and each went on to a solo theater career.

In 1998, they reunited in a screen comedy, Le Clone, which was a failure critically and financially.

Dieudonné's successful one-man shows include Pardon Judas (2000), Le divorce de Patrick (2003), and 1905 (2005).

His most successful screen appearance to date was in Alain Chabat's box-office hit Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra in 2002; in 2004 he appeared in Maurice Barthélemy's box office bomb Casablanca Driver.

In 2003, Dieudonné performed a sketch on a TV show about an Israeli settler whom he depicted as a Nazi.

Some critics argued that he had "crossed the limits of antisemitism" and several organizations sued him for incitement to racial hatred.

Dieudonné refused to apologize and denounced Zionism.

Other one-man shows were Mes Excuses (2004), Dépôt de bilan (2006) and J'ai fait l'con (2008), all understood as attacks on political and social opponents and defences of his own positions.

Anti-Semitic statements made within and around these productions led to intense controversy and numerous lawsuits.

Dieudonné has also been known to associate with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran from 2005 to 2013, who has himself been accused of describing the Holocaust as a myth.

Following the 2005 civil unrest in France, Dieudonné also penned a play called Émeutes en banlieue (Riots in the Suburbs, February 2006).

In 2007, Dieudonné approached Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the National Front political party that he had fought earlier, and the men became political allies and friends.

Holocaust denier Robert Faurisson appeared in one of his shows in 2008.

Dieudonné described Holocaust remembrance as "memorial pornography".

Dieudonné has been convicted in court eight times on antisemitism charges.

Dieudonné subsequently found himself regularly banned from mainstream media, and many of his shows were cancelled by local authorities.

Active on the internet and in his Paris theater, Dieudonné has continued to have a following.

The two also met in 2009 during a visit by Dieudonné to Iran where they reportedly discussed their shared anti-Zionist views.

Dieudonné M'bala M'bala was born in Fontenay-aux-Roses, Hauts-de-Seine, France.

He is the son of a retired sociologist from Brittany, who is also a painter and exhibits under the name Josiane Grué, and an accountant from Ekoudendi, Cameroon.

His parents divorced when he was one year old, and he was brought up by his mother.

He attended Catholic school, though his mother was a New Age Buddhist.

Dieudonné lives with Noémie Montagne, his producer, and has five children with her.

Dieudonné began writing and practicing routines with his childhood friend, Jewish comedian and actor Élie Semoun.

They formed a comedic duo, Élie et Dieudonné (Élie and Dieudonné), and performed in local cafés and bars while Dieudonné worked as a salesman, selling cars, telephones, and photocopy machines.

In 2009, surrounded by scandals (see below, "Political activities"), Dieudonné launched two one-man shows: Liberté d’expression (Freedom of expression) and Sandrine.

While the latter was a follow-up to Le divorce de Patrick, the former was conceived as a series of itinerant "conferences" on "free speech".

His quenelle signature gesture became notorious in 2013, particularly after footballer Nicolas Anelka used the gesture during a match in December 2013.

In 2013, after Dieudonné was recorded during a performance mocking a Jewish journalist, suggesting it was a pity that he was not sent to the gas chambers, Interior Minister Manuel Valls stated that Dieudonné was "no longer a comedian" but was rather an "anti-Semite and racist" and that he would seek to ban all Dieudonné's public gatherings as a public safety risk.

His shows have been banned in several French cities.

On 25 February 2015, Ahmadinejad tweeted "Visiting an old friend, a great artist."

The tweet included photographs of himself and Dieudonné, arms around each other, smiling.

On 20 January 2017, the court of appeal of Liège confirmed a first instance sentence of two months of jail time and a €9,000 fine for Dieudonné's anti-Semitic remarks in a performance in Herstal on 14 March 2012.