Do we like Thomas Bangalter?
Our score: 7 out of 10. No harmful words or acts turned up and he has spoken up for human creativity, but little is on record about his wider views.
Thomas Bangalter is the Frenchman who, with Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, spent nearly three decades behind the robot helmets as Daft Punk. The duo split in 2021, and he has spent the years since writing music for dancers and orchestras instead of dance floors.
The latest chapter is Mirage – Ballet for 16 Dancers, announced in April 2026. Euronews described it as a vast, atmospheric piece of electronic minimalism, made with choreographer Damien Jalet and contemporary artist Kōhei Nawa. He also announced an immersive installation at Art Basel in Switzerland on 20 June, with German producer Rampa and artist Julian Charrière.
On the harm test, I looked for anything he has said or done about LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants, public health or the planet, and for any dodgy company. Nothing came up. His most public stand is about technology, and in a 2023 BBC interview he said he was “somehow terrified” of how machines and people relate. That's a worry about creativity, not a campaign against any group.
He also said the duo “were always on the side of humanity and not on the side of technology”. As reported by Uproxx and Official Charts, he framed the robot act as a performance about feelings a machine cannot have. It's a fair way to put a piece of art: the robots were a costume and the people underneath were the point.
On the good-person test, there are no lawsuits lost, no allegations and no accounts of him mistreating anyone in what I read. I can't point to charity work or a famous act of kindness either, so it's a clean sheet rather than a glowing one. That's honestly the whole list.
So he's an easy yes, with the caveat that he's a famously private bloke who rarely says anything about politics. A reader who wants to see him stand up for others won't find much, but a reader who wants to know he isn't pushing harm will be fine.