The TikToker who boasted of “living on aid” apologizes and explains that he “wanted to taunt certain racist and fascist French people”

Emergency backpedaling. “Since I have lived in France, I have never experienced social assistance, never!”, said the TikToker ALP in a video posted on December 24. A sudden turnaround for someone who had previously boasted of “taking advantage of the system” and “living off aid” from France. As a reminder, in a video published on TikTok he declared: “it is the social workers who pay for my electricity, my gas, the water” and “I do nothing, I decided not to do anything. All French people have the seum, you work and pay taxes for me, so that I can be paid. Incendiary remarks which ignited the powder and caused a reaction from the National Family Allowance Fund (Cnaf), which pays in particular the RSA and APL, and the Minister of Solidarity Aurore Bergé.

Faced with the media hype, the man in his twenties was quick to backtrack. Pleading irony, ALP declares having posted its buzz video to “taunt certain racist and fascist French people”. His remarks would only aim to give fodder to his detractors. “This video that I made was to taunt the racist French and the fascist French. Because every time I do my lives, I always have people insulting me. I always get racist insults from French people who come to me and say "go home", "you're all black", "you don't work, you take advantage of France" [...] As they accuse me all the time While I wasn’t working, I said to myself “ok, I’m going to give them this pleasure, I’m going to taunt them in these videos,” he pleads. The young man explains having made comments like “the French you work for me” or “the French you are my slaves” because “on the one hand I had hatred and on the one hand I wanted to taunt all these people”.

And the individual has to justify himself. “I have never touched either the CAF or the RSA. In any case, I am 19 years old, I am not old enough to receive the RSA,” he explains, declaring that he is only followed by the Local Mission. Moreover, according to him, those who are most attentive will not have failed to notice that combining the RSA and the Local Mission is “impossible”. Especially since “I have a job in France, I have a job. I live in France, I pay my rent in full. I pay my taxes. I did my tax return. I pay for everything, I'm legal in France. I have my papers in France. I work like all French people. I get up every day. Sometimes I even work on weekends,” says ALP.

Also read “I live on aid, the French work for me”: he boasts of “taking advantage of the system” on TikTok, Aurore Bergé and Caf react

And the man did not fail to tug at the heartstrings and apologize. “France allowed me to have my diplomas, France allowed me to have a job. France allowed me to dress myself. France suited me well,” he explains, “I was raised in France by a host family, purely French, of native origin so to speak. So I respect the French, I respect the work that the French do in France, and I love France.” And to summarize: “Everything I have today, France gave it to me.”

So to end the controversy, the TikToker “just asks for forgiveness” and “apologizes”. “I receive too many death threat messages, too many “we’re going to lynch you” messages. It’s excessive, he takes offense, Afterwards I know that I searched, but I ask forgiveness from all the French people. I wouldn’t make these kinds of videos again.”

Regardless, the authorities took charge of the case. “The individual has been identified and checks are underway,” Cnaf wrote last Friday on X (formerly Twitter), indicating that “in the event of proven fraud, a complaint will be filed against him.” The Minister of Solidarity and Families Aurore Bergé also stepped up to the plate, calling for people to be wary of this kind of comments. “Beware of videos of individuals seeking only buzz and acting on the back of truth and national solidarity,” warned the former president of the Renaissance group in the National Assembly.

This man is not the first to advocate social fraud on social networks. Last September, a YouTuber nicknamed Mertel claimed in a video to have 1,800 euros net monthly income “without giving a damn” by accumulating various allowances. Already at the time, Aurore Bergé had slammed her fist on the table. Subsequently, the minister made an amendment as part of the social security financing bill (PLFSS) for 2024, with her colleague from Public Accounts, Thomas Cazenave, creating an offense of public incitement to social fraud (for example on the internet or social networks). Punished with two years' imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros, he will see the light of day on January 1st.