France’s former culture minister, Jack Lang, has been summoned by the foreign ministry to clarify his connections with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a source close to the presidency told AFP on Thursday.
“The president’s and prime minister’s offices each asked the foreign minister to summon him so he can give an explanation,” the source said.
A separate source at the foreign ministry confirmed to AFP that Lang had indeed been “summoned,” but declined to provide further details.
Lang, 86, did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
The controversy has also affected his family: Lang’s daughter, Caroline, stepped down as head of a film producers’ union on Monday following disclosures about the family’s links to Epstein.
Despite the scrutiny, on Wednesday Jack Lang dismissed calls to resign as head of the Arab World Institute in Paris.
However, the source close to President Emmanuel Macron stated that the president’s office feels Lang should “think of the institution” he has led since 2013.
No formal charges have been filed against the Langs, and their names appearing in the millions of documents related to Epstein released by the US Justice Department “do not necessarily imply wrongdoing.”
