Leïla Slimani

In April 2026, six Franco-Amazigh associations published an open letter accusing Leïla Slimani of repeatedly presenting Morocco solely through its Arab dimension and neglecting its Amazigh component, particularly during promotion of 'Assaut contre la frontière', an essay centred on her relationship with the Arabic language.

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On France Inter, Slimani stated that France was 'the only monolingual country in the French-speaking world'. Numerous listeners protested to Radio France's mediator, citing regional and overseas languages; the mediator subsequently interviewed linguist Bernard Cerquiglini to contextualise and correct the statement.

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The book 'Sexe et Mensonges' placed Slimani at the centre of a debate over sexual repression and laws criminalising sex outside marriage and homosexuality in Morocco. Critics accused her of portraying Morocco for a predominantly French/Western readership and implicitly highlighting a contrast between Moroccan oppression and Western values.

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Slimani's appointment as Emmanuel Macron's personal representative for Francophonie, following her publicly visible closeness to the president, exposed her to criticism over proximity to power and France's ability to promote Francophonie, perceived by some as inheriting neo-colonial relations.

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Slimani and Sonia Terrab drafted the Moroccan manifesto 'Hors-la-loi', whose signatories symbolically declared themselves outside the law and called for debate on individual freedoms, decriminalisation of sex outside marriage and legalisation of abortion.

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While serving as Emmanuel Macron's personal representative for Francophonie, Slimani published a sharp criticism of the tone used towards undocumented migrants following a presidential exchange in Verdun. Le Monde reported that Macron telephoned her to express his displeasure with the intervention.

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At the height of the #MeToo controversy, Slimani published a response to an open letter signed by Catherine Deneuve, among others, defending a 'freedom to pester'. She instead asserted the right not to be pestered, taking a position in one of the period's most polarising feminist debates.

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Following the arrest of two teenage girls accused of homosexuality, Slimani called on Moroccans to rebel against laws she described as 'medieval', denouncing the treatment of women and sexual minorities.

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Following the 2015 attacks, Slimani published a strongly worded text against fundamentalism in which she stated, among other things, that Sharia made her 'want to vomit'. The wording contributed to her polarising reputation in debates about Islam, secularism and identity.

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