Pellerin was born in 1973 in Seoul, South Korea, where she was abandoned on the streets aged only three or four days old before being rescued by an orphanage; six months later she was adopted by a French family.

[4] Pellerin took charge of society and digital economy issues for Socialist Party candidate François Hollande in his successful 2012 French presidential election campaign.

[9] Shortly after Pellerin was appointed Minister of Culture, the French magazine L'Express reported that she vacationed at the Corsican villa owned by film producer Pascal Breton, raising ethics questions.

[11] Under her leadership, the French Culture Ministry made a bid in September 2015 to purchase one of a highly coveted pair of Rembrandt portraits from Éric de Rothschild for the Louvre in Paris, offering €80 million.

[12] As part of a major government reshuffle in early 2016, Pellerin was sacked and replaced by Audrey Azoulay, who at the time served as Hollande's cultural advisor.