French nepotism row flares over Nicolas Sarkozy's help for rap producing eldest son

Nicolas Sarkozy is facing fresh allegations of using his presidential clout to help family members after reportedly getting an Elysée adviser to lobby a body that refused to fund a project by his eldest son, Pierre.

Pierre Sarkozy, eldest son of the French president, has been accused of receiving an unfair helping hand from "papa"Photo: AFP/GETTY

By Henry Samuel in Paris

6:30AM GMT 09 Nov 2009

On the face of it, Pierre Sarkozy, 24, an up-and-coming hip hop and rap producer-composer, has little in common with his younger brother Jean, 23, a law student who is following in his father's footsteps as a municipal councillor in the family fiefdom of Neuilly-sur-Seine. However both face allegations of receiving an unfair helping hand from "papa".

Jean sparked a damaging nepotism row over his campaign to head the body that runs La Défense, France's biggest business district. Loyalists of his father smoothed Jean's path to the top job - considered a foregone conclusion until public outrage forced him to settle for a lesser post. Last week, Mr Sarkozy admitted arranging his son's fast-track promotion had been "a mistake".

Yesterday, however, it was reported that he helped out Pierre - the eldest of his three sons. According to Electronlibre – a respected high-tech website - he called his father after he was refused funding worth 10,000 euros from SCPP, the civil society for phonographic producers. The body finances projects by new artists and producers from a tax on CD sales and established artists' royalties.

The SCPP had turned down Pierre's request as a matter of course because he is not a member.

According to the site, the call from the Elysée saw the SCPP offer to "provide all the (necessary) guarantees that the affair would be resolved in the right way". It said Marc Guez, the head of the SCPP, is believed to have sent an email ten days ago promising to "personally" handle the affair.

Mr Guez yesterday confirmed he had received a call from one of the president's cultural advisers, but that the person had "not asked me to ensure he received financing" – a decision, he said that was at any rate made by an "independent commission".

The Elysée yesterday said it had simply phoned to enquire why the financing had been turned down.

But the LePost website asked why the adviser would make such a call as the SCPP funding rules are well-known to all in the sector.

Besides, it went on: "is it in the remit of an adviser of the French president to find out why his son's dossier was refused by an independent body?"

Yves Riesel, a producer and former member of the SCPP's commission, advised Pierre Sarkozy to join the body. "If this little boy isn't capable of phoning up the commission himself to ask for explanations like any other producer and he's asked the Elysée to do it for him, that's his problem."