When terrorists launched a series of attacks across Paris on November 13, 2015, the Bataclan concert hall was the sight of a massacre that left 89 people dead.
The rock band Eagles of Death Metal were headlining that night and witnessed the carnage firsthand.
But in the wake of controversial statements by frontman Jesse Hughes regarding the attack, upcoming scheduled performances by the band at the Rock en Seine concert in Paris and the Cabaret Vert festival in northern France have been canceled.
"I know for sure that they were in there," Hughes told Taki’s Magazine last week, elaborating on his belief that security guards at the Bataclan were in on the attack. "There’s no denying the terrorists were already inside, and they had to get in somehow. During the shooting I went outside and the backstage door was propped open. How did that happen?
"If they were hanging out enough to let three people go, then they knew security dudes. They knew bouncers. They knew doormen."
A vocal supporter of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Hughes has made claims that sound all-too-similar to the xenophobic statements of the billionaire.
"[I saw] Muslims celebrating in the street during the attack," he said, parroting Trump’s unproven allegations of Muslims cheering as the World Center collapsed on 9/11.
Hughes also maintained he saw "terrorists" in the club prior to the night of the attacks.
The Bataclan has strongly denied the singer’s claims.
"Jesse Hughes spread some very grave and defamatory accusations against the Bataclan teams," the concert hall said in a statement.
"A judicial investigation is undergoing. We wish to let justice proceed serenely. All the testimonies gathered to this day demonstrate the professionalism and courage of the security agents who were on the ground on November 13.
"Hundreds of people were saved thanks to [security guard] intervention."
In February, Hughes gave an interview on iTele in which he blamed France’s gun control laws for the incident.
"I know people will disagree with me, but it just seems like God made men and women, and that night guns made them equal," he said. "I think the only way that my mind has been changed is that maybe that until nobody has guns everybody has to have them."
