France's National Front to sue Madonna over Nazi image

France's far-right National Front to sue Madonna after an image at the singer's Paris concert showed party leader Marine Le Pen with a swastika imposed on her face.

The video image has appeared in previous shows of the world tour
The video image has appeared in previous shows of the world tour

France's National Front has said that they plan to sue pop star Madonna after the 53-year-old singer showed a video at a Paris concert that contained an image of the party's leader with a swastika on her forehead.

Sunday's announcement comes week into the iconic performers' MDNA World Tour which has seen the image of Marine Le Pen displayed several times before.

The party had previously warned they would pursue legal action if the image was broadcast during the singer's stop in France.

On Saturday night, Madonna played it at the Stade de France.

National Front vice-president Florian Philippot said the party could not accept "such an odious comparison".

In the video, party leader Marine Le Pen is briefly pictured in the video during a montage in which famous faces  morph one into the next.
Soon after Le Pen's face flashes up, the singer's own follows with Hitler's mustache.
Le Pen, who inherited control of the party from her father, Jean-Marie, has tried to shed the National Front's image as racist and anti-Semitic, especially during her recent failed bid for president.

Philippot said the lawsuit would be filed this week.

The video had already appeared earlier in Madonna's 30-nation MDNA world tour, sparking a warning from Le Pen that she was considering legal action.

Philippot said: "This is just another provocation in Madonna's world tour so that people will talk about her.

"Marine Le Pen will defend not only her own honour but her supporters and the millions of National Front voters."

Le Pen won 18% of the vote in the first round of France's presidential election and has tried to remove extremist elements and crack down on anti-Semitism.

However, the National Front won only two seats in the 577-member National Assembly in last month's general election.

Madonna is due to perform in France again on 21 August, in Nice.