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Prominent French politicians have to resign because their names figure in the Epstein files – and just as prominently. One belongs to culture pope Jack Lang.
Feb 8, 2026, 8:46 p.mFeb 8, 2026, 8:46 p.m
Stefan Brändle, Paris / ch media
Jack Lang and Jeffery Epstein in front of the Louvre in Paris.Image: keystone
The pressure was too great. Jack Lang, one of France’s most colorful politicians, announced his resignation as chairman of the Arab Institute in Paris on Saturday evening. With his resignation, the former culture minister of the socialist President François Mitterrand anticipated a summons to the Foreign Ministry on Sunday. It was said from those close to President Emmanuel Macron that the accused was now endangering France’s reputation.
Lang is considered the inventor of the annual, now Europe-wide music festival on June 21st. In recent years, the 86-year-old has headed the “Institut du Monde Arabe” (IMA). He worked as a shadow diplomat with excellent contacts in the Near and Middle East.
His long-standing friendship with Jeffrey Epstein is now his downfall. The American, who probably died by suicide, was considered a lover of France and owned a luxury apartment on Avenue Foch in Paris. Jack Lang served as his point of contact for over twenty years. Once, thanks to his connections, the flamboyant Frenchman helped him get Macron to appear; Once, at Epstein’s request, he made an offer for a villa in Marrakech – for “5.4 million euros, offshore”, as one of the documents states.
Epstein celebrated at the Louvre shortly before his arrest
Last week, the Paris public prosecutor’s office launched a case against Lang’s daughter Caroline for money laundering and serious tax fraud. She founded a company called Prytance LLC with Epstein in the tax haven of the US Virgin Islands in 2016. This was supposed to trade in art objects and promote film projects in Paris. Caroline Lang resigned from the chairmanship of French independent film producers last week.
Jack Lang is also mentioned in the offshore company’s statutes. His name can be found 675 times in the Epstein files known to date. The exchange was not about pedophile meetings; Only once did the two men discuss the need to devote more time in schools to topics such as “religion or new sexualities”.
Just a few days before Epstein’s arrest, Lang had invited the pedophile financier to a ceremony at the Louvre Museum. As the newspaper Libération now writes, Lang “must have been particularly poorly informed if he didn’t want to know about the allegations.”
Not the only accusation against Lang
It is not clear from the emails that Lang could have been involved in Epstein’s prostitution network. In contrast, the Sunday newspaper Tribune Dimanche writes that with his resignation, Lang is paying for “40 years of rumors about him.” Allegations previously reached France from Morocco that Lang had taken part in sex orgies with boys.
In a manifesto, he and other intellectuals had previously defended “consensual” sex with 13-year-olds. As France’s cultural pope, he regularly supported celebrities such as Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Roman Polanski, who were accused of sexual assault. He received even more criticism when he defended cultural figures such as Gabriel Matzneff or Frédéric Mitterrand, who had described and admitted their sexual crimes with minors.
Apart from Caroline Lang, Epstein also had lively email exchanges with other French filmmakers. Including – and as far as we know, without a sexual undertone – with Oscar winner Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist).
Another “French connection” of Epstein’s was relevant under criminal law. The top model agent Jean-Luc Brunel, one of the big names in the Parisian mannequin business, was suspected of having procured several girls aged twelve and over for the pedophile billionaire. Brunel visited the pedophile American in prison several times before taking his own life in custody in 2022. The Brunel affair never made a big splash in Paris. And this is not because it is insignificant – on the contrary, it is more likely because too many people were involved or at least up to date. (aargauerzeitung.ch)