Former Minister of Culture Jack Lang preferred to announce his resignation on Saturday from the Institut du Monde Arabe, which he had chaired since 2013, rather than have it imposed on him. He had in fact been summoned to an interview on Sunday by Jean-Noël Barrot, the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The pressure had only been mounting since his name appeared in the archives on the Epstein affair, put online by the US Department of Justice. It appears in these documents that the president of the IMA took advantage of the largesse of the businessman and sex offender after the latter’s conviction in 2008 to 18 months of detention for solicitation of prostitution involving a minor.
The National Financial Prosecutor’s Office (PNF) announced on Friday February 6 that it had opened a preliminary investigation into him and his daughter Caroline for “laundering of aggravated tax fraud”. The PNF is investigating a real estate transaction between Jack Lang and Epstein and a jointly established company founded in a tax haven. Caroline Lang resigned on February 3, 2026 from her position as general delegate of the Union of Independent Producers (SPI), a position she had held for only a few weeks.
“The accusations made against me are inaccurate and I will demonstrate it, beyond the sound and fury of the media and digital courts”he wrote in his resignation letter made public by AFP. He adds: “The current climate, mixing personal attacks, suspicions and amalgamations, all of which are otherwise unfounded, is harmful. It revolts and disgusts me. It can only harm this magnificent institution (the IMA)”.
The former Minister of Culture of François Mitterrand, then Minister of National Education (in 1992-1993 then in 2000-2002) was appointed in 2013 to the presidency of the IMA after his non-re-election in the 2012 legislative elections.
Renewed in 2017, then in 2020 then in 2023 as president of the IMA, arousing more and more controversy due to his age (86 years old today), he has undoubtedly revitalized a cultural establishment which was stagnating by attracting patrons and organizing exhibitions for the general public under the leadership of his shadow advisor Claude Mollard.
Jean-Noël Barrot requested that the board of directors be convened within seven days in order to acknowledge the resignation of Jack Lang and appoint an interim president. It is to be hoped that his successor leaves a more memorable mark than the three presidents who preceded Jack Lang: Yves Guéna (2004-2007), Dominique Baudis (2007-2011) and Renaud Muselier (2011-2013) who had only served one mandate.
