Bardella Denies Report of Antisemitic Messages and Files Defamation Claim

Jordan Bardella, leader of France's far-right National Rally (RN), said on September 28, 2026 that he did not author antisemitic messages attributed to him by investigative outlet Mediapart and filed a defamation action over the report. Mediapart published its report alleging repeated antisemitic and conspiratorial statements that day, according to Le Monde. He denies authorship.

Mediapart dates the attributed writings to 2013, when Bardella was a teenage activist. The outlet says the remarks were shared in private conversations or private messages, an account reflected in reporting on the denial by Al Jazeera. That timing and setting were also noted in earlier coverage of the allegation by The Telegraph. Mediapart published the report on September 28, 2026, according to Reuters.

Among the exchanges cited is the statement "All the banks are owned by Jews," according to Mediapart. Another item attributed to Bardella includes the statement "Le juif doit dominé (sic) les autres peuples," according to Mediapart. Mediapart described the material as repeated antisemitic and conspiratorial statements rather than a single remark.

Bardella issued his public denial on September 28, 2026. He filed a defamation complaint — a legal claim that a published statement harmed his reputation — over the accusation that he authored antisemitic writings, according to Mediapart, a step also described as a defamation lawsuit against Mediapart. Marine Le Pen said she did not believe the Mediapart revelation, describing it as a "dinguerie," according to Mediapart.

The broader context here is a dispute over attribution, memory and proof, and the legal move changes where that dispute will be tested. Old private messages are hard to verify, like trying to confirm who sent a text from years ago without full records. A defamation complaint shifts those questions from competing press statements toward judicial examination of sourcing, documents and testimony. How Mediapart substantiates authorship, how Bardella sustains denial under legal scrutiny, and how RN leadership manages internal cohesion while the case proceeds will shape the political cost.