Yann Moix was born on March 31, 1968, in Nevers, France. He earned a bachelor's degree in Philosophy from the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne and graduated from the École supérieure de commerce de Reims. He subsequently graduated from Sciences Po.
Moix is a French author, film director, and television presenter. He is the author of ten novels and has won several literary prizes, including the Prix Goncourt du premier roman and the Prix François Mauriac. He has directed three films, including Podium, which is based on one of his novels.
Moix has been a panellist on the television program On n'est pas couché since 2015 and writes for the magazine La Règle du Jeu. He has also been involved in several controversies, including signing a petition in support of film director Roman Polanski in 2009 and signing a petition against the Gayssot Act in 2010.
In 2019, Moix's comments about women over the age of 50 caused outrage on social media in France. He stated that women in their 50s were "invisible" to him and preferred "younger women's bodies." He also stated that he preferred dating Asian women, particularly if they are Korean, Chinese, or Japanese.
Moix's novel Orléans was published in 2019 to critical acclaim, but it left critics and the public bewildered about the revelations it contained. The book is heavily autobiographical and contains hate speech towards the narrator's parents. Following public protests by Moix's parents and younger brother, it was revealed that some of the severe incidents described in the book actually took place between him and his brother, and that several of the situations depicted were made up or heavily exaggerated.
Moix's brother, Alexandre Moix, who is also a writer and film producer, told media that his elder brother "prefers to serve his own ambition rather than the truth." He also stated that his older brother should not be a flag-bearer for suffering children, since "he doesn't care about other people's suffering."
