Former World Cup champion and prominent anti-racism activist Lilian Thuram is at the center of controversy after reposting a conspiracy-laden video with antisemitic undertones targeting the Rothschild family.
As Thuram’s name has been floated as a potential appointee to a new High Commissioner role for Diversity and Diasporas proposed by President Emmanuel Macron, the timing of his repost has raised serious concerns. The video, shared on his Instagram account, recycles well-known conspiracy theories, claiming that “more and more people are waking up and learning that 99% of the Earth’s population is controlled by a 1% elite,” before naming: “But did you know there’s one family, the Rothschilds, that rules even that elite?”
The clip refers to the “Rothschild dynasty” as “unquestionably the most powerful bloodline on Earth,” attributing to them an absurd and unsubstantiated fortune of “around €500 trillion.” It further claims that this wealth derives from banks allegedly owned and controlled by the family, naming numerous institutions such as the Bank of France, the Bank of Israel, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Canada, the People’s Bank of China, and the U.S. Federal Reserve.
“Help Us Understand”
The repost was flagged by the X (formerly Twitter) account “Sword of Salomon,” which monitors antisemitic content online. “A sincere question to Lilian Thuram: as someone awarded an honorary doctorate for your anti-racist activism, founder of an anti-racism foundation, and a long-time supporter of the Palestinian cause—you obviously couldn’t endorse a conspiratorial video claiming that ‘the Rothschild family controls the world, the banks, and wars’… And yet, this video is among your Instagram reposts, shared with your 173,000 followers. So help us understand,” the account posted Thursday.
