French politician Louis Boyard, member of the left-wing France Unbowed party, has found himself at the heart of an online frenzy.
Social media users and right-wing politicians have alleged that Boyard purposefully removed his supposedly luxury watch, ahead of an interview with French broadcaster BFMTV, in which he criticised the “ultra-rich”.
Even Argentina’s radical right-wing President Javier Milei has jumped on the bandwagon, resharing the viral clip as evidence of what he branded left-wing “hypocrisy”, in an X post which has been viewed more than 7 million times.
Assessing the online claims
Journalists from BFMTV were wrapping up an interview with far-right National Rally politician Laurent Jacobelli in the National Assembly, when Boyard was caught on camera removing his watch in the background — leading many internet users to peddle the claim that the left-wing politician had been caught out.
In reality, even zooming in to the maximum on a screenshot of Boyard’s wrist does not make the watch’s brand legible. What is visible is that the watch has a silver strap with a black face.
Yet, this has not stopped social media users from claiming that Boyard sought to conceal a luxury watch, while providing no supporting evidence to back these claims.
The allegations were first shared by a string of X accounts, some of which are critical of the left, while others are ideologically close to the right and far-right.
These include the “YouTubeGauchiste”, “Bastion”, “Fdesouche” and “Bleu Blanc Rouge” accounts.
On X, users have even shared a range of possible Rolex models that Boyard could have been wearing, without reaching an agreement. Others reshared images of a watch bearing a gold strap with a black face, which clearly does not match the silver strap with a black face.
Louis Boyard hits back
Hitting back at the luxury watch claims in a video posted on social media — which has garnered more than 2.5 million views on X — Boyard called out a “disinformation campaign”, which he alleged was orchestrated by the far-right ahead of France’s 2027 Presidential elections.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t have a Rolex, I have this watch, which costs €295. My friends bought me it for my 25th birthday, thanks guys!”, stated Boyard in the video, while holding up the accessory.
“I am wearing [the watch] in a lot of videos, but given that I talk with my hand and sometimes knock tables, for instance, I have developed the habit of taking it off before interviews”, added Boyard.
Questioned about whether the France Unbowed party has a dress code and would oppose politicians wearing watches, Louis Boyard’s parliamentary assistant, Ismaël El Hajri, told Euronews that it does not.
“There is a line of ideological convictions that is shared by all party members,” he said. “People who own Rolex watches should pay taxes, contribute to the national effort, which is not the case today, and this is what our party is denouncing.”
“These kinds of disinformation campaigns have had consequences on Louis’ personal life; he has already had to move homes twice, because of his address being leaked,” added El Hajri.
In the video, Boyard cited a string of campaigns which have sought to tarnish his reputation in recent years, referring to a petition which was published in 2023 and called out politicians who reportedly consume drugs.
The petition, which singled out Boyard, was launched on Change.org by a user bearing the name “Carole Delval”, who has previously admitted to dealing drugs in his youth.
However, in February, French investigative outlet Mediapart published a story revealing that this petition was allegedly part of a smear campaign conducted by French media mogul Vincent Boloré, who is close to the far-right and at the helm of media group Canal+.
The petition surfaced months after Boyard criticised Boloré on a live TV show, which was aired on C8, a channel which belongs to the Canal+ group.