Jeannette Bougrab, wife of late Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier, has spoken out in an emotional new interview with MSNBC’s Ronan Farrow.
“I don’t sleep. I dont eat. I just drink some water. I try… I would like to die sometime,” Bougrab said as she opened up about her husband’s violent death at the hands of terrorists. “When I heard some news, I tried calling him but it didn’t understand [sic] — he didn’t answer me and he answers immediately when I call him usually and I don’t understand,” she said.
Charbonnier, editor of the satirical newspaper since 2009, was shot and killed on January 7 when armed gunman stormed the publication’s Paris offices killing a total of 12 people.
“I took a cab, a taxi, and I go to Charlie Hebdo and I was very weak so I saw a lot of policemen and the French president was here and I told him, ‘Where is Charb? Where is Charb?; And he didn’t answer me. And the guy said, he died. And I fall on the ground and I cry.”
Farrow also spoke with a former Charlie Hebdo staffer, Caroline Fourest, who slammed global media outlets for not running the newspaper’s controversial covers and drawings.
“I think it’s the saddest news I’ve heard in all of this incredibly moving mobilization around Charlie Hebdo,” Fourest said. “And I’m sure if the people can see the cartoons for why my colleagues have been shot, they would not believe it.”
As TheWrap previously reported, Charlie Hebdo’s first post-attack edition hits newstands Wednesday. The defiant cover features a cartoon of Muhammad shedding a tear and holding a sign saying “Je Suis Charlie” or “I am Charlie” — the global rallying cry that followed the attack. Above his head it says “Tout Est Pardonné” or “all is forgiven.”
The paper normally publishes 50,000 – 60,000 copies a week. But this week, it plans to print three million copies in 16 languages.
Watch the video of Jeannette Bougrab on MSNBC.