Charlie Hebdo’s Girlfriend Denied Funeral Access

Lawyer Jeannette Bougrab became the face of mourning after Islamic extremists attacked the offices of French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo last week.  The girlfriend of its late editor Stephane ‘Charb’ Charbonnier, gave a series of interviews to reporters at the scene of the shooting that claimed the lives of ten journalists and two police officers.  “My companion is dead because he drew in a newspaper,” she said. 

Since then, Ms. Bougrab has declared she will not be attending the funeral of her boyfriend, after his family denied the two were ever in a committed relationship and ordered her to stay clear of the ceremony.

Charb’s brother, Laurent Charbonnier issued a statement, “We formally deny any rational commitment from Charb with Jeannette Bougrab.  We do not want her to express herself in the manner in which she has done.  We ask for respect for our family’s mourning.” 

Ms. Bougrab responded to Laurent’s words, stating, “We didn’t do a press release to announce our relationship but we weren’t hiding it.  He had met my mother, my daughter called him dad.”  Several friends of the couple have corroborated her claims.    

See Jenn Selby, Why Jeannette Bougrab, the Girlfriend of Late Charlie Hebdo editor ‘Charb’, Has Been Ordered to Stay Away From His Funeral, Independent, Jan. 13, 2015. 

Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.