French right-wing host Cyril Hanouna has announced he would sue left-wing party La France Insoumise (LFI) over an alleged anti-Semitic poster of him used to advertise a demonstration “against the far-right” in the country.
“To see an anti-Semite poster like that when all the Jews of France already feel unsafe in France. It’s for them that I’m afraid,” Hanouna said during his late-night Canal+ show Touche pas à mon poste on March 12.
Stéphane Hasbanian, Hanouna’s lawyer, confirmed he was “preparing legal action”.
The poster featured the face of the Tunisian-Jewish presenter in black and white, eyebrows furrowed and looking aggressive, with the message: “Demonstrations against the far right, its ideas … and its supporters!”
The image has triggered accusations of anti-Semitism, denied by the radical left-wing movement.
French journalist and public commentator Jean-Michel Apatahie denounced the poster on social media.
“This visual of La France Insoumise is frightening because it recalls the hatred of Jews in the 1930s. Because he says mental violence is unacceptable. Because it designates a person to public vindictiveness. Cyril Hanouna is right to file a complaint,” he said on X on March 11.
Left-wing journalist Françoise Degois also denounced LFI’s methods and draw a parallel between Nazi Germany posters and the LFI image.
“What are these fascist methods? Okay, we don’t like it Hanouna, but [do] we have to display it like that? Make it an object of hatred like that? And all the anti-Semitic codes are there. If you don’t have the ref, here it is!,” she said on X on March 12.
Mais c’est quoi , ces méthodes de faf ? Ok on n’aime pas #Hanouna mais on doit l’afficher comme ça ? En faire un objet de haine comme ça ? Et tous les codes antisemites y sont. Si vous avez pas la réf , la voilà #LFI au délire ! pic.twitter.com/gc1DtMThAZ
— francoise degois (@francoisedegois) March 12, 2025
France Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin claimed LFI was putting public figures in danger.
“It’s putting targets on the backs of these journalists, these politicians or these personalities,” he said on March 12.
“I hope that these demonstrations can be banned by the local authorities,” he added.
LFI condemned the accusations, attributing them “mainly” to “far-right activists amplified by CNews [on Canal+], Europe 1 [radio station] and the JDD [weekly newspaper].”
The party stated that it sought to “put an end to” the controversy by removing the poster.
Others have argued that the image was not anti-Semitic as it contained no religious references.
Some claimed it was a case of double standards as the satirical publication Charlie Hebdo was not accused of anti-Semitism when it depicted Hanouna as a virus.
This was not the first time the party had faced accusations related to anti-Semitism.
