France - Cities Ban Comic's Shows - NYTimes.com Mayors of several French cities decided Tuesday to ban the shows of a comedian the government accuses of insulting the memory of Holocaust victims and threatening public order with anti-Semitic gibes. The authorities in Nantes barred a performance of the comedian, Dieudonné M'bala M'bala, set for Thursday, hours after shows were banned by mayors in Marseille, Bordeaux and Tours. President François Hollande also weighed in, telling a meeting of senior government officials that "no one should be able to use this show for provocation and to promote openly anti-Semitic ideas." Lawyers for Mr. M'bala M'bala, who has been fined repeatedly for hate speech, said they would defend him, filing legal complaints for defamation and invasion of privacy. "Freedom of expression is not at the whim of governments or a comedian," they said in a statement.