After sharing a simple story to celebrate Hanukkah, Virgilia Hess, BFMTV weather presenter, was the target of hateful and anti-Semitic messages.
While Virgilia Hess, well-known BFMTV weather presenter, was preparing to welcome her first child in 2022, a diagnosis of HER2 positive breast cancer disrupted this moment of happiness. This illness, requiring heavy and grueling treatments, did not dampen the young woman’s determination. In a moving testimony published at the time on her social networks, she confided: “Summer 2022, 32 years old, I learned that I was going to be a mother next spring, my life was going to change! It finally changed earlier than expected, a month ago, when I learned that I was with HER2-positive breast cancer. Despite this ordeal, she showed admirable courage, facing each step with determination.
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Today, having become the mother of little Léna-Rose, she continues to share moments of her daily life with her subscribers. Recently, she posted an Instagram story to celebrate Hanukkah, an important holiday in the Jewish calendar. In the video, we could see traditional donuts, with the caption: “And Hanukkah Sameah” (“Happy Hanukkah”). A simple and caring gesture, which nevertheless triggered a wave of anti-Semitic messages of incredible violence.
These violent messages after a simple story about Hanukkah
While she simply wanted to share a moment from her personal life with her subscribers, she found herself confronted with an avalanche of anti-Semitic and hateful messages. Among them, one in particular caught his attention “I didn’t know you were a fucking Zionist, plus I felt sorry for you with your cancer. Tchao, I’m unsubscribing, you genocidalist, you could die of your cancer.” Words of rare violence which deeply shocked the journalist.
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Appalled by this comment, the 34-year-old presenter wanted to react publicly by sharing a message on her network account “These are the kind of messages we can receive at the dawn of 2025 when we post a Hanukkah story on Instagram (story that I’m sharing here, so you can see). And again, I corrected the spelling mistakes and did not give you all the Palestinian flags that followed. Sad France…”
Already the victim of anti-Semitic attacks last May
This is not the first time she has faced such attacks. Last May, she was already the target of anti-Semitic insults after taking a stand against a pro-Hamas demonstration at Columbia University. At the time, she said “I carry within me the Ashkenazi trauma of my family, victims of the Shoah and, in fact, I have always remained rather discreet about my religion, sometimes almost hidden. But since October 7, I can no longer remain silent. I am sickened (the word is weak) by the anti-Semitic hatred which floods the world, particularly in Paris, my hometown, and in New York, where I lived for five years for my studies.”
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Faced with this wave of hatred, the Society of Journalists (SDJ) of BFMTV quickly reacted, expressing unfailing support for their colleague. “Our colleague and sister Virgilia Hess has been the target for several days of messages of anti-Semitic insults and death threats, following a post on social networks in which she was concerned about the virulence of the anti-Semitism. These insults and threats are unbearable and unacceptable. The SDJ of BFMTV strongly condemns them and wishes to assure Virgilia of its full support.
