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Courtney Love Tweets Ordeal During Violent Uber Protests in Paris Courtney Love Tweets Ordeal During Violent Uber Protests in Paris
(about 1 hour later)
Courtney Love had what she called the scariest day of her life on Thursday, when the car in which she was riding was attacked during protests in Paris and she and her driver were held hostage, she said.Courtney Love had what she called the scariest day of her life on Thursday, when the car in which she was riding was attacked during protests in Paris and she and her driver were held hostage, she said.
Ms. Love, a singer and actress who is the widow of the Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, appeared to have been caught up in a strike and violent protests against UberPoP, an inexpensive version of Uber’s ride-booking service, by the French taxi associations that oppose the company’s efforts to expand service in France.
Ms. Love live-tweeted the whole episode.Ms. Love live-tweeted the whole episode.
The strike in France is the latest in a series of challenges confronting Uber, the San Francisco-based transportation service, in a number of countries in which it operates. It has faced strong resistance in Europe over the past year, particularly in France. Last year, the French Parliament passed a law barring unregistered drivers from picking up passengers, essentially banning the service. Ms. Love, a singer and actress who is the widow of the Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, appeared to have been caught up in a strike and violent protests against UberPoP, an inexpensive version of Uber’s ride-booking service, by the French taxi associations that oppose the company’s efforts to expand service in France.
Ms. Love seems to have been caught in the middle of the dispute. A photograph posted to her Instagram account showed the window of her vehicle covered in what appeared to be egg. The strike in France is the latest in a series of challenges confronting Uber, the San Francisco-based transportation service, in a number of countries in which it operates. It has faced strong resistance in Europe over the past year, particularly in France. Last year, the French Parliament passed a law barring unregistered drivers from picking up passengers, essentially banning the service. (Uber is contesting the constitutionality of parts of the law and has instructed its drivers to keep working.)
Ms. Love seems to have been ensnared in the dispute while visiting Paris. A photograph posted Thursday to her Instagram account showed the window of her vehicle covered in what appeared to be egg.
In her posts, Ms. Love snapped at the president of France, François Hollande, using several expletives and even more question marks to ask where the police were.In her posts, Ms. Love snapped at the president of France, François Hollande, using several expletives and even more question marks to ask where the police were.
“Is it legal for your people to attack visitors?” she wrote in one Twitter post. Ms. Love’s posts were widely circulated on Thursday: The one confronting Mr. Hollande received more than 7,000 retweets and 2,000 favorites by Thursday afternoon. She has nearly two million Twitter followers. “Is it legal for your people to attack visitors?” she wrote in one Twitter post. Ms. Love’s missives were widely circulated on Thursday: The one confronting Mr. Hollande received more than 8,000 retweets and 2,000 favorites by Thursday afternoon. She has nearly two million Twitter followers.
Ms. Love also posted a video showing men knocking on the window of a vehicle and demanding that she and the driver get out of it.Ms. Love also posted a video showing men knocking on the window of a vehicle and demanding that she and the driver get out of it.
“How on earth are these people allowed to do this?” she asked in the caption of her post. “The first car was destroyed, all tires slashed and beat with bats, these guys trying to open the doors and the cops are doing nothing??”“How on earth are these people allowed to do this?” she asked in the caption of her post. “The first car was destroyed, all tires slashed and beat with bats, these guys trying to open the doors and the cops are doing nothing??”
She continued: “I want to go home.”She continued: “I want to go home.”
Ms. Love wrote that she escaped the attack, no thanks to the police. This is not the first time the rock star has attracted attention for her tweets. She won a libel case in January 2014 after a jury in Los Angeles determined that she did not defame her former lawyer on Twitter.
And in 2011, she settled a libel case with a fashion designer who claimed that Ms. Love’s tweets ruined her reputation and her business.
Ms. Love was not the only traveler whose itinerary was interrupted by the protests. Striking taxi drivers blocked the entrances to airports and train stations, and other disruptions were reported in Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, in the South, and Cannes, where an advertising festival was being held.
Overturned black cars, some with their windows smashed, and burning tires blocked traffic in those cities and left some passengers stranded on the road.
Mickael Flores, who identifies himself on Twitter as a TV journalist, posted a photograph of a fire in the middle of a street in Marseille. His tweet, in French, said, “Manifestation of anti-UberPop protest by Marseillais taxis who want to deactivate the app.”
Uber has offered its customers in France an opportunity to be heard by circulating an online petition. And it posted “10 Truths About UberPop” on Twitter to help counter the drivers’ protest.
Ms. Love wrote that she escaped the attack on her car, no thanks to the police.
After her getaway, she posted a celebratory photo to Instagram with the motorcyclists who she said came to her rescue. Ms. Love, with a smile on her face, looks relieved.After her getaway, she posted a celebratory photo to Instagram with the motorcyclists who she said came to her rescue. Ms. Love, with a smile on her face, looks relieved.
“I can’t believe this really just happened,” she wrote, and made one more jab against the French government.“I can’t believe this really just happened,” she wrote, and made one more jab against the French government.