In 2008, Siné's article and cartoons in the magazine
Charlie Hebdo relating to
Jean Sarkozy's marriage to Jessica Sebaoun-
Darty, the Jewish heiress, touched off a controversy, after journalist Claude Askolovitch described them as
anti-Semitic.
[2] The magazine's editor,
Philippe Val, ordered Siné to write a letter of apology or face termination. The cartoonist said he would rather "cut his own balls off," and was promptly fired. Both sides subsequently filed lawsuits, and in December 2010, Siné won a 40,000-
euro court judgment against his former publisher for
wrongful termination.
[3]
Siné also reported a
death threat posted on a site run by the Jewish Defense League. The text said "20 centimeters of stainless steel in the gut, that should teach the bastard to stop and think."
[4]