12 Facts About Philippe Val

Philippe Val was a co-founder of the second iteration of Charlie Hebdo in 1992, serving as the satirical political weekly's editor and director.

Philippe Val was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine to a butcher's father and a hairdressing mother, as the last of four siblings.

Philippe Val first became known as a member of the comedy duo Font et Philippe Val with Patrick Font from 1970 until 1996, and sometimes as a one-person show performer, with his dog "Jeff".

Philippe Val was briefly the editor of the satirical political weekly La Grosse Bertha in 1991, and appointed Cabu, Charb, Gebe, Peroni, and Tignous to his editorial team.

In 2004, following the death of Gebe, Philippe 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.

Philippe Val co-signed a petition, "le manifeste des 12", together with Bernard-Henri Levy, Salman Rushdie, Taslima Nasrin and eight others, which denounced the dangers of Islamist ideology, calling it a "new totalitarianism".

In 2008, Philippe Val fired cartoonist Sine from the magazine for an alleged antisemitic comment in one of his columns.

In 2009, Philippe Val resigned from Charlie Hebdo after being appointed director of France Inter.

Philippe Val has been described as a counter-jihad 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 listing him as a "victim of the 'repression of the counter-jihad movement'".

Philippe Val served as the director of public radio channel France Inter until 2014.

Philippe Val joined radio station Europe 1 as a weekly columnist in 2021.