An image has surfaced on social media showing a cartoon allegedly authored by French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo that shows a bunch of apes dressed in jerseys of the French national team, who confuse the World Cup trophy with a banana or an orange.
Regardez comment votre charlie Hebdo voit l’equipe de France pic.twitter.com/iWrl8DqbnX
— A l’Amoniaque (@mohi_zni) 19 июля 2018 г.
However, Michel Rose of Reuters dismissed the image as fake and shared what he called the real Charlie Hebdo cover, which depicts Les Bleus' players all looking like French President Macron.
There’s a fake cover of Charlie Hebdo about apes and the World Cup doing the rounds. It’s FAKE people, don’t share it. This is the real @Charlie_Hebdo_ cover #fakenews pic.twitter.com/Bcg2XVNloh
— Michel Rose (@MichelReuters) 19 июля 2018 г.
Before the hoax was discovered, many internet users expressed their anger at the famous daily.
This is pure #racism.
— Farid Maidi (@faridmaidi) 19 июля 2018 г.
"#CharlieHebdo" shows the #French players like monkeys.#France #Immigrants #Africa #WorldCup #Rusia2018 #CM2018 pic.twitter.com/Agqc3tcZ4T
"I don't share Charlie's values, but that seemed too bold even for them," a French Twitter user wrote.
"What racists these Charlie Hebdo are!" another user exclaimed furiously.
If that’s not racism.. I don’t know what is! Shame on you #CharlieHebdo https://t.co/ULkVB4NMF9
— أمل السهلاوي 🇦🇪 (@SahLawiA) 19 июля 2018 г.
Others, however, weren't that surprised with the image.
May be that is fake but saddly its fitts with #charliehebdo mentality nevertheless.
— Yildirim B. Çelik (@YildirimCLK) 19 июля 2018 г.
On July 15, France beat Croatia 4-2 in a dramatic final to pick up its second World Cup. Last time, they won the trophy on home soil 20 years ago.