National Affairs

NFL Anthem Performer Nina Tonji Alters La Marseillaise Lyric, Sparking Outrage in France

Nina Tonji changed one word of La Marseillaise before a Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints game, according to Fox News.

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From the pages of The Continental Gazette.

Fox News reported that Nina Tonji, the NFL's French national anthem performer, changed a word of La Marseillaise before a game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New Orleans Saints. According to the report's summary, Tonji replaced "impure" with "united" in the song.

Fox News's headline described the change as sparking outrage in France. The summary does not say who expressed that outrage, how it was expressed, or how many people were involved, and it adds no detail beyond the headline's description.

Fox News also placed the change in a broader setting, saying it occurred "amid immigration unrest." The summary does not identify that unrest, name its location, or explain any connection between it and the choice of word, so the report's account of that link is limited to the statement itself.

The summary includes no statement from Tonji, the NFL, the Steelers, the Saints, or any French official. It says the change was made before the game but does not say how it was noticed or who first raised it. Those points remain unreported in the material available for this story.

The account therefore rests on a single report and its brief summary. No other outlet's coverage of the matter was available for comparison, so the facts above are limited to what Fox News stated, and where the headline and summary go beyond one another, the difference is noted here.

Sources: Fox News: NFL's French national anthem performer Nina Tonji alters words to La Marseillaise, sparking outrage in France.

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