The French rap artist whose music allegedly influenced Palisades wildfire suspect Jonathan Rinderknecht has distanced himself from the controversy, with members of his trusted entourage saying he can’t be held responsible for those who listen to his music.
Rinderknecht is said to have been listening to a music video laden with fiery imagery by French rapper Josman, 32, at the time he allegedly sparked the catastrophic Los Angeles blaze.
The 29-year-old Uber driver was charged Wednesday with ‘maliciously’ starting the Lachman Fire on January 1 – a blaze that investigators say sparked the catastrophic Palisades Fire six days later.
The inferno left at least 12 people dead and leveled more than 6,000 properties after he deliberately set the fire, authorities allege, likely using a lighter to ignite vegetation or scraps of paper shortly after completing an Uber ride.
The criminal complaint against Rinderknecht said two of his passengers on the night of New Year’s Eve, 2024, said he seemed agitated and angry.
In the days leading up to the blaze, Rinderknecht had allegedly grown obsessed with a haunting music video by Josman, real name José Nzengo, portraying ‘bitterness and despair’, prosecutors said.
Josman cannot be held responsible for the actions of someone who listened to his music, a member of his entourage told Daily Mail
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, allegedly obsessed over Josman’s song “Un Zder, Un Thé”, listening to it nine times in just four days. He watched the accompanying music video three times during that period and four more times on his iPhone – including while he set the deadly Palisades blaze, authorities say
Officials said they believe the Palisades Fire was a ‘holdover fire’ – a continuation of the Lachman Fire allegedly started by Rinderknecht
But a member of the rapper’s entourage in Paris shrugged this assertion off, telling Daily Mail: ‘Josman does not get involved in polemics like this.
‘Artists cannot be held responsible for those who listen to their music; the music is produced for everybody who wants to listen to it.’
The source added: ‘France is thousands of miles from the USA. Connecting music produced here with events so far away does not make sense.’
He also pointed out that aggressive fires have been a popular theme in pop music for decades.
Those songs range from the psychedelic rock hit Light My Fire by the Doors in 1967, to Burning Down the House by Talking Heads in 1983 and Firestarter, the 1996 electric dance hit by the Prodigy.
Florida-based Rinderknecht, who was born in France, used YouTube to listen to Josman’s hit song, Un Zder, Un Thé’ which means, ‘A Joint, A Tea’, on December 31.
A member of his posse said that Josman isn’t involved in ‘polemics’, meaning he wasn’t going to add to the ongoing discourse about the alleged suspect’s music tastes
The inferno claimed at least 12 lives and destroyed over 6,000 properties after authorities allege Rinderknecht deliberately set the flames
The song, which translates to ‘A Joint, A Tea’, focuses on themes such as ‘bitterness and despair’, and shows Josman walking around setting fires
This was minutes before he allegedly started the fire that was eventually whipped by high winds into the deadly Palisades inferno on January 7.
Court documents read: ‘The music video for the song shows the main character (Josman) lighting things on fire.’
Lyrics from the song include, ‘Daily life is killing me’, ‘I feel like I’m nowhere’ and ‘too much bitterness in my head, I think about the mistakes we made’.
The suspect had allegedly listened to the same song nine times in four days and watched the music video three times over the same time period.
He also watched the fire video at least four times on his iPhone, according to investigators.
In the video, which Josman recorded in December 2018, he shows himself smoking in an apartment that eventually goes up in flames.
The Palisades fire grew from the embers of a smaller fire that Rindernecht allegedly set
Josman’s associates also said it didn’t ‘make sense’ to connect a song made in France with an event happening ‘thousands of miles’ away in the US
At one point in the music video, Josman is seen lighting a burning barrel outside a housing project, which erupts into an engulfing blaze
Josman is also seen lighting a burning barrel outside a housing project, which erupts into an engulfing blaze.
There are also clips of the rapper walking along a street with a handful of flaming banknotes in his hand.
When Rinderknecht allegedly started the fire on New Year’s Day, he made several unsuccessful 911 calls, officials said.
He then fled the scene of the original fire but returned to the same trail where he’d been earlier to watch it burn, acting US attorney Bill Essayli said.
He also made disturbing ChatGPT prompts, asking for an image in July 2024 showing a hellish fire scene where people were ‘watching the world burn down, watching the people struggle. They are laughing, enjoying themselves, and dancing,’ the complaint claimed.
A month later, he told the chatbot and a family member how he ‘literally burnt the Bible’, which made him feel ‘amazing’ and ‘liberated’, according to the court filing.
Among the evidence that was collected from his digital devices was an image Rinderknecht generated on ChatGPT depicting a burning city, a criminal complaint said
A still taken from footage from a UCSD camera at 12.12am EST on January 1. The bright spot on the upper left is the Lachman Fire. According to police, Rinderknecht’s parked car is visible down the hill on the right
The driver was arrested in Florida, according to officials. His first court appearance was on Wednesday in Orlando when he was held in custody without bail after a judge was told he threatened to burn down his sister’s house last month.
He was charged with destruction of property by means of fire – a felony that carries a mandatory minimum five-year prison sentence and is punishable by up to 20 years.
Josman, who is from a Congolese and Angolan background, has a new album called ‘Dom Perignon Crying’ out at the end of October.
There was no official comment from his managers on the Palisades Fire.
