http://www.france24.com/en/20140404-anelka-blames-france-prime-minister-valls-wife-jewish-dieudonne-ban-quenelle/ French footballer Nicolas Anelka has courted fresh controversy in France, saying Prime Minister Manuel Valls moved to ban shows by the inflammatory comic Dieudonné in January under pressure from his Jewish wife.

Several of Dieudonné’s scheduled stand-up shows were cancelled by local authorities on the grounds they featured anti-Semitic remarks.

Valls, at the time France’s interior minister, said his routines had gone past the limits of artistic expression and posed a risk to public safety.

Anelka, 35, told newspaper Metronews on Friday that Dieudonné was “like a brother” to him, but that he did not hold a grudge against Valls for taking an aggressive stance against the controversial comic