The Liberal Initiative party (IL) has come forward in support of comedian Joana Marques amid her legal dispute with the musical duo Anjos, comprised of brothers Nelson and Sérgio Rosado.
In a post on social media platform X, the party claimed that the fundamental issue is “freedom of expression.”
“Calm down, young people. As always, once again, the Liberal Initiative stands up for freedom of expression, artistic freedom, the freedom to make jokes, and the freedom to critique. Criticism has always been an important component of the artistic world. A liberal Portugal is a country that understands and defends this, always,” the IL stated.
CALMA JOVENS!
É mesmo liberdade de expressão.
Como sempre e mais uma vez, a Iniciativa Liberal vem defender a liberdade de expressão, a liberdade artística, a liberdade para fazer humor e a liberdade para fazer crítica.
A crítica é e sempre foi uma componente importante do… pic.twitter.com/F4VuzYahG4
— Iniciativa Liberal (@LiberalPT) June 18, 2025
This court case stems from a video published by Joana Marques that spoofed the performance of the duo, Nelson and Sérgio Rosado, ahead of a MotoGP event in Portimão.
The Anjos performed the national anthem, and the video shared by Marques interspersed clips of reactions from the “Idols” show jury.
Following the video’s release, the artists initiated legal action seeking compensation of 1.118 million euros.
Initially, negotiations for a settlement were attempted in a preliminary hearing last year, but no agreement was reached.
In an interview this March on the show ‘Dois às 10’, the Anjos expressed feeling “surprised and even embarrassed” by what was broadcasted. After confronting the MotoGP organizers, they received an apology.
On Tuesday, speaking to the press upon arriving at the courthouse, the comedian addressed the situation publicly for the first time.
“I’m sorry to be wasting your time. I think we’re all losing valuable time, although mine isn’t particularly precious, so I don’t mind being here for these two days. The court’s time could have been spent on other matters,” she told SIC Notícias.
“It was promised that today we’d hear of some serious issues, and I’m also here to find out what those are,” she added, denying any “attempt at settlement” with the singers, insisting that the Anjos’ demand was always for her to remove the parody video reflecting on their MotoGP performance in Portimão.
“I have a lot to say, having taken many notes over the past year. There were many amusing moments, and I intend to speak about these in due course,” she continued.
During the morning session of the trial on Tuesday, Nélson Rosado declared that the musical act continues to receive hateful messages because of the controversial video.
“The video isn’t a depiction of our performance, but a new video because parts of our interpretation were omitted. (…) The defendant cut parts, including a significant portion of the lyrics, like ‘raise again today,’ which was omitted in the defendant’s video,” argued Nelson Rosado.
“We’ve been accused of murdering the anthem. We didn’t mess up the anthem, and we certainly aren’t murderers,” the artist stated, contending that the video aimed to ridicule them and resulted in the cancellation of 11 concerts.
