Philippe Val (; born 14 September 1952) is a French journalist, singer, and comedian. He was a co-founder of the second iteration of ''

Charlie Hebdo ''Charlie Hebdo'' (; ) is a French satirical weekly magazine, featuring cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes. The publication has been described as anti-racist, sceptical, secular, libertarian, and within the tradition of left-wing radicalism ...

'' in 1992, serving as the satirical political weekly's editor and director. After leaving ''Charlie Hebdo'' in 2009, Val was director of the public radio channel

France Inter France Inter () is a French public radio channel and part of Radio France. It is the successor to Paris Inter, later known as France I, and created as a merger of the France I and France II networks, first as RTF Inter in October 1963, then ren ...

until 2014.

Biography

Val was born in

Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban Communes of France, commune in the Hauts-de-Seine Departments of France, department just west of Paris in France. Immediately adjacent to the city, north of the ...

(Hautsde-Seine) to a butcher's father and a hairdressing mother, as the last of four siblings. Val first became known as a member of the comedy duo ''Font et Val'' with Patrick Font from 1970 until 1996, and sometimes as a one-person show performer, with his dog "Jeff". He is also a singer and pianist. At the turn of the 21st century, he performed with Emmanuel Binet on

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

. His last album was called simply ''Philippe Val''.

''Charlie Hebdo'' career

Val was briefly the editor of the satirical political weekly '' La Grosse Bertha'' in 1991, and appointed

Cabu Jean Maurice Jules Cabut (; 13 January 19387 January 2015), known by the pen-name Cabu (), was a French comic strip artist and caricaturist. He was murdered in the January 2015 shooting attack on the ''Charlie Hebdo'' newspaper offices. Cabu w ...

Charb Stéphane Jean-Abel Michel Charbonnier (; 21 August 1967 – 7 January 2015), better known as Charb (), was a French satirical caricaturist and journalist. He was assassinated during the ''Charlie Hebdo'' shooting on 7 January 2015. He wor ...

, Gébé, Peroni, and

Tignous Bernard Jean-Charles Verlhac (21 August 1957 – 7 January 2015), known by the pseudonym Tignous (, from ), was a French cartoonist. He was a long-time staff cartoonist for the French satirical magazine ''Charlie Hebdo''. On 7 January 2015, Tig ...

to his editorial team. After he was removed from his position in 1992, he helped re-launch ''

'' together with

Bernard Maris Bernard Henri Maris (; 23 September 19467 January 2015), also known as "Oncle Bernard", was a French economist, writer and journalist who was also a shareholder in ''Charlie Hebdo'' magazine. He was murdered on 7 January 2015, during the shooti ...

, Xavier Pasquini, Albert Algoud, Olivier Cyran, Luz, and

Riss Riss or RISS may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Riss (cartoonist), French cartoonist, author and publisher Laurent Sourisseau (born 1966), majority owner of the satirical newspaper ''Charlie Hebdo'' * Dan Riss (1910–1970), American actor * Erik R ...

. In 2004, following the death of Gébé, Val succeeded him as director of ''Charlie Hebdo'', while still holding his position as editor. Several contributors and journalists, including Olivier Cyran, Mona Chollet, and Philippe Corcuff protested against Val's ideas and left the magazine. Val's editorship of Charlie Hebdo was influenced by three convictions: philo-Semitism, anti-sociologisme, and an aversion to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

due to the assumption that anti-Semitism is intrinsic to

Arab identity Arab identity () is the objective or subjective state of Identity (social science), perceiving oneself as an Arab and as relating to being Arab. Like other Cultural identity, cultural identities, it relies on a common culture, a traditional linea ...

and Islam. As editorial director, Val chose to publish the ''Jyllands-Posten'' Muhammad cartoons in late 2005. As a result of publishing the cartoons, ''

'' was taken to court for inciting hatred; in 2007 it was acquitted of those charges. Val co-signed a petition, "le manifeste des 12", together with

Bernard-Henri Lévy Bernard-Henri Georges Lévy (; ; born 5 November 1948) is a French public intellectual. Often referred to in France simply as BHL, he was one of the leaders of the " Nouveaux Philosophes" (New Philosophers) movement in 1976. His opinions, politi ...

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie ( ; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British and American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern wor ...

Taslima Nasrin Taslima Nasrin (born 25 August 1962) is a Bangladeshi- Swedish writer, physician, feminist, secular humanist, and activist. She is known for her writings on the oppression of women and criticism of Islam; some of her books are banned in Bangl ...

and eight others, which denounced the dangers of Islamist ideology, calling it a "new

totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public s ...

". In 2008, Val fired cartoonist

Siné Maurice Albert Sinet (; 31 December 1928 – 5 May 2016), known professionally as Siné (), was a French political cartoonist. His work is noted for its anti-capitalism, anti-clericalism, anti-colonialism, antisemitism, and anarchism. Biography ...

from the magazine for an alleged

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

comment in one of his columns. However, in December 2010, Siné won a 40,000-euro court judgment against ''Charlie Hebdo'' for wrongful termination. In 2009, Val resigned from ''Charlie Hebdo'' after being appointed director of

. Val has been described as a

counter-jihad Counter-jihad (also known as the counter-jihad movement) is a self-titled Islamophobia, anti-Muslim political movement loosely consisting of authors, bloggers, think tanks, demonstrators, and other activists across the Western world. Proponents are ...

activist by Farid Hafez, who has stated that he "is seen as a kind of martyr for his activism in the fight against Islamisation", with ''

Gates of Vienna Gates of Vienna is a far-right blog established in 2004 by Edward S. May and his wife. The website has featured the writings of international hardline anti-Muslim writers such as Fjordman and Paul Weston, and "is a central player in the counter ...

'' listing him as a "victim of the 'repression of the counter-jihad movement'".

Later activities

Val served as the director of public radio channel

until 2014. In April 2018, Val drafted a manifesto "against the new anti-Semitism", which was signed by 250 personalities in France including

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa ( ; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. In 2021, he was found guilty of having tried to bribe a judge in 2014 to obtain information ...

Manuel Valls Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (born 13August 1962) is a French–Spanish politician who serves as Minister of the Overseas in the Bayrou government since 2024. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president Françoi ...

, Jack Lang,

Julia Kristeva Julia Kristeva (; ; born Yuliya Stoyanova Krasteva, ; on 24 June 1941) is a Bulgarian-French philosopher, literary critic, semiotician, psychoanalyst, feminist, and novelist who has lived in France since the mid-1960s. She has taught at Colum ...

, and

Gérard Depardieu Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor. An icon of French cinema, considered a world star in the same way as Alain Delon or Brigitte Bardot, he has completed over 250 films since 1967, most of which as ...

, condemning the "silent ethnic cleansing" of Jews by Muslims in certain parts of France. Val joined radio station

Europe 1 Europe 1, (''Europe un'') formerly known as Europe nº 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. It was owned and operated by Lagardère News, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it was one of the leading radio broadcasting s ...

as a weekly columnist in 2021.

Publications

* ''Vingt ans de finesse (Font & Val)'' (with Patrick Font), Le Cherche midi, 1992 * ''Allez-y, vous n'en reviendrez pas'', Le Cherche midi, 1994 * ''Allez-y, vous n'en reviendrez pas, la suite'', Le Cherche midi, 1996 * ''Fin de siècle en solde'', Le Cherche midi, 1999 * ''No Problem !'', Le Cherche midi, 2000 * ''Bonjour l'ambiance'', Le Cherche midi, 2001 * ''Bons baisers de Ben Laden'', Le Cherche midi, 2004 * ''Les années Charlie : 1969-2004'' (with Cavanna), Hoëbeke, 2004 * ''Le référendum des lâches : les arguments tabous du oui et du non à l'Europe'', Le Cherche midi, 2005 * ''Traité de savoir survivre par temps obscurs'', Éditions Grasset, 2007 * ''Les traîtres et les crétins : chroniques politiques'', Le Cherche midi, 2007 * ''Reviens, Voltaire, ils sont devenus fous'', Éditions Grasset, 2008 * ''Si ça continue, ça va pas durer'', Les Échappés -France Inter, 2009 * ''Malaise dans l’inculture'', Éditions Grasset, 2015 * ''C'était Charlie'', Éditions Grasset, 2015 * ''Cachez cette identité que je ne saurais voir'', Grasset, 2017 * ''Le nouvel antisémitisme en France'', Éditions Albin Michel, 2018 * ''Tu finiras clochard comme ton Zola'', Éditions de l’Observatoire, 2019 * ''L'Europe ou rien'', L'Observatoire, 2020 * ''Allegro Barbaro'', Éditions de l’Observatoire, 2020 * ''Dictionnaire philosophique d'un monde sans Dieu'', Éditions de l’Observatoire, 2022 * ''Rire'', Éditions de l’Observatoire, 2024

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Val, Philippe 1952 births Living people Charlie Hebdo people Counter-jihad activists French columnists French critics of Islam French humorists French satirists French journalists French male comedians French male non-fiction writers People from Neuilly-sur-Seine Comedians from Île-de-France