Jack Lang, one of France’s most recognisable political and cultural figures, has resigned from his post as head of the Arab World Institute in Paris after allegations surfaced linking him financially to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. His exit follows the explosive release of the Epstein files by the United States Department of Justice on January 30, which named hundreds of individuals connected through correspondence and financial trails. French authorities confirmed Lang submitted his resignation just before appearing at the Foreign Ministry, which oversees the institute he had led since 2013.

The fallout has gone beyond reputational damage, with France’s financial prosecutors opening an investigation into Lang and his daughter Caroline for alleged aggravated tax fraud laundering. Investigative outlet Mediapart reported that the Lang family had business and financial links with Epstein through an offshore company registered in the US Virgin Islands — a classic tax haven structure often used to obscure money flows. Adding to the pressure, Lang’s name reportedly appeared more than 600 times in the Epstein documents, showing repeated contact between 2012 and 2019, making him the highest-profile French figure entangled in the scandal so far.

Lang, who rose to prominence as culture minister under former president François Mitterrand during the 1980s and 1990s, had long been viewed as a symbol of France’s modern cultural diplomacy. His sudden fall underscores how wide the Epstein network’s impact has spread across global elites. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has acknowledged the resignation and initiated the process of appointing a successor, while investigators continue tracing financial links. Bottom line — this isn’t a minor controversy. It’s a full-scale political and legal storm, and Lang’s resignation is almost certainly just the first major consequence in France.