Charlie Hebdo is a French satirical weekly newspaper that regularly publishes provocative cartoons, reports, polemics, and jokes against various religions such as Catholicism, Islam, Judaism, as well as politics and culture. Known for its irreverent, crass, and stridently non-conforming tone, the publication has been the target of Islamist rage for almost a decade.

In 2012, Charlie Hebdo published a cartoon depicting the prophet Muhammad naked and crouching. Depictions of the prophet are strictly prohibited in the Islamic faith. It was a message that the weekly newspaper used to show it would not be intimidated into softening its critiques of extremists. It's editor-in-chief Stéphane Charbonnier at the time told Le Monde that he would rather "die standing than live on my knees." In 2013, Charlie Hebdo's headquarters were destroyed in a firebomb attack.

In 2007, two French Muslim groups sued the Charlie Hebdo for its decision to publish about a dozen Danish cartoons of Muhammad. The case was rejected in French courts, which determined that the cartoons were covered by freedom of expression laws and were not an attack on Islam, but fundamentalists.

In January 2015, armed gunmen killed twelve at Charlie Hebdo Paris’ office including Jean Cabut, aka Cabu, and Stéphane Charbonnier, aka Charb, two of France’s best-known and most talented comic strip artists and caricaturists. Charbonnier was also publisher of the magazine.

Charlie Hebdo first appeared from 1969 to 1981. It went out of business for ten years before it was brought back in 1992. Charb was the most recent editor, holding the post from 2009 until his death in the attack on the magazine's offices in 2015. His predecessors were François Cavanna (1969–1981) and Philippe Val (1992–2009). The magazine is published every Wednesday, with special editions issued on an unscheduled basis.