Courtney Love 'held hostage' in Paris taxi protest, singer says
'They've ambushed our car and are holding our driver hostage,' tweeted the singer Thursday
Courtney Love says she was scared out of her wits Thursday when the car she was riding in was "destroyed" by protesting taxi drivers in Paris.
The 50-year-old former Hole frontwoman and widow of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, says she was ambushed and "held hostage for about an hour" when picketers, rallying against the mobile car-hailing service Uber, attacked her car.
they've ambushed our car and are holding our driver hostage. they're beating the cars with metal bats. this is France?? I'm safer in Baghdad
—@CourtneyLove was among many travellers who got caught up in the protest in the French capital that saw taxi drivers smash livery cars, set tires ablaze and block traffic across the country.
Love, who didn't specify what kind of car she was in, posted a barrage of messages on social media during the ordeal, calling the incident the "scariest day" of her life.
paid some guys on motorcycles to sneak us out, got chased by a mob of taxi drivers who threw rocks, passed two police and they did nothing
—@CourtneyThe celebrity appeared to blame Fran çois Hollande, calling the French president a "libertine."
"I can't believe this really just happened, she wrote on Instagram. "[I] love French people but your government blows."
Rescued from the riot
The singer later posted a snapshot wearing a motorcycle helmet with two smiling men who appeared to have rescued her from the melee.
France's top security official said he had ordered an immediate ban on unlicensed services like UberPop in the Paris region but called for an end to violence against the service's drivers.
"We are calling for calm. We are in a state of law," Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said. "A state of law is not a state of violence."
Uber's more expensive livery service is still legal but a source of intense frustration for French taxi drivers, who pay tens of thousands of euros (dollars) for the equivalent of medallions and who face customer complaints that they are being resistant to changes such as credit cards and geolocation.
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The French government, meanwhile, said nearly 500 legal cases have been filed across the country involving complaints about UberPop, the lowest cost service. Several drivers have had their cars impounded. The officials reiterated concerns about safety of passengers, insisting they are not protected in case of an accident by an UberPop driver.
With files from The Associated Press