NRJ Music Awards: Slimane on stage in tears, all the winners of the 2024 list

The 26th season of the NRJ Music Awards took place Friday evening at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes. The evening hosted by Nikos Aliagas and broadcast on TF1 saw some great people pass by: Indochine, David Guetta, Amir, Vitaa… and Slimane, among others. The singer’s arrival at the ceremony was uncertain until early yesterday afternoon. Indeed, as revealed The Parisianhe is the target of a complaint for sexual harassment, filed by one of his former technicians. The singer allegedly forced him into a hug before taking him by force to his dressing room where he asked him for sex. This was refused by the victim who claims to have received messages and videos of a sexual nature, even pornographic, for several hours after this altercation. Facts denied by Slimane.

That didn’t stop the singer from being there, going on stage, winning an award and giving a speech. As the event organizer said at the Parisian : “We think that the presumption of innocence is very important and we are not investigating judges. So for us, nothing has changed.” Slimane arrived at the Palais des Festivals shortly after the publication of these lines.

Very little applause behind the scenes

The performance as well as Slimane’s speech were rather well received by the public. On the other hand, behind the scenes, the reception was more mixed. According to The Parisianwhen his prize was awarded, the silence was heavy, only two people applauded. Several artists, whose names are not cited by our colleagues, considered that Slimane’s presence was disturbing in view of the accusations, but that this ceremony being a celebration, it was necessary to deal with it.

Nicola Sirkis’ speech did not go unnoticed either. The singer from Indochina, who was crowned French-speaking group of the year, dedicated this trophy to “all those who suffer moral, academic or sexual harassment”. A phrase that particularly resonates this evening.

Slimane, who received the French-speaking male artist of the year award, was in tears on stage. He began his thanks with a tearful: “He has a special taste,” before telling his daughter that he hoped she would be proud of him when she grew up and thanking her parents. He concluded with: “To my audience, from one human to many other human beings, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”