Foreign Minister Bettel has taken legal action over a satirical Instagram post that altered his appearance and mocked his Middle East stance, with the investigation pending and prosecutors saying they have not yet received the complaint.

According to reports from several media outlets, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel has filed a criminal complaint over a manipulated Instagram post that depicted him with altered features and included a reference from the 2004 cult teen comedy Mean Girls. The Foreign Ministry said the complaint had been transmitted to the public prosecutor, while prosecutors said they had not yet received it.

The post at issue, dated 26 September 2025, showed a doctored photo of Bettel wearing a keffiyeh, with added makeup and a Palestinian tie, alongside the warning "DO NOT TRUST HER".

Media coverage linked the content to activist and former journalist Gabrielle Antar, who is supposedly behind the post on the page of 'déi aner' ('the others'), a self-titled "alternative webzine focused on the youth and the marginalized with reflection at its core".

Antar, a former executive of the National Womens' Council, reportedly said she did not create the image but accepted responsibility for sharing it.

The collective has argued that the content was satire and believed to fall under free speech protections, describing the edit as a critique of Bettel's stance on the Middle East and of Israel's pinkwashing efforts. The group said they would have discussed removing the image if Bettel had contacted them directly and stressed their opposition to homophobia and transphobia.

Bettel has since described Antar as "radicalised" and stated that any compensation awarded would be donated to the anti-radicalisation platform Respect.lu. The outcome of the investigation is pending as authorities will determine whether the post meets criminal thresholds under Luxembourg law.

Bettel in recent months drew repeat criticism from activist groups, particularly in relation to the war in Gaza. At the beginning of October, this culminated in a confrontation on a Luxembourg City terasse, where activists interrupted his lunch with DP colleagues to pressure him over the detention of Nora Rosa Fellens Huberty, a Luxembourg activist held by the Israeli military after participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla.

A video of the confrontation quickly spread at the time, with activists accusing the foreign minister of supporting a genocide in Gaza.