Patrick Bruel finds himself at the center of a legal case that is causing a lot of noise. The singer, an essential figure in French song for over thirty years, is targeted by accusations from several women including host Flavie Flament. Placed in police custody for 48 hours, the artist disputes the facts with which he is accused. According to information communicated by the Nanterre public prosecutor’s office, the investigation concerns accusations of rape, attempted rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment. This Wednesday, the singer was presented to court after being taken into police custody. The prosecution requested his indictment as well as his placement in provisional detention.
Particularly heavy news for someone who, since the 1990s, has been one of the French public’s favorite personalities. Between his musical successes, his sold-out tours and the famous “Bruelmania” which swept across France, the father of Oscar and Léon has long maintained a privileged link with his audience, and in particular with his admirers.
While the case is now taking its course before the courts, certain TV archives are resurfacing. Among them, an interview given in 2000 to the host Thierry Ardisson in which the singer talked about his love life, his relationships with women and even a surprising encounter he had in Caracas, from which he said he was inspired to write his song She wanted everything.
Patrick Bruel confides in this story of a night in Caracas: “She takes me to a hotel, she does my business”
In this interview, Patrick Bruel opens up with ease. Facing Thierry Ardisson, he notably tells this story that he lived in Caracas (Venezuela), and from which he then made a song. He first describes the scene bluntly. “It’s the girl who cheated on me”, he says, smiling, when the host gives him the role of the seducer. Then he unfolds the story: “I’m sitting in a bar, quiet, at 2 a.m. She looks me in the eyes, she grabs me, she takes me for a walk through the streets of Caracas, she takes me to a hotel, she makes me, as you say, ‘my business’.”
In the early morning, the story takes an unexpected turn. The young woman has disappeared. “I think she stole everything from me. In fact, she stole nothing from me at all. She left, she even paid for the room”he says, provoking reactions from the set. He then confides that he never saw her again. “I say to myself: how did I let her go? And I never saw her again.”
25 years ago, Patrick Bruel boasted of having young fans
Throughout the interview, Patrick Bruel also discusses his relationship with romantic relationships more broadly. He reacted immediately when Thierry Ardisson declared: “you say that you are strong in seduction and but after that it doesn’t last very long”. Patrick Bruel nuance: “I said another sentence. I said: ‘I’m easy to seduce, I’m not easy to keep.’ That’s it, that’s better, isn’t it?” Laurent Baffie suggests that, since la “Bruelmania”her admirers have aged a little by declaring: “The pissers have moulted…” The artist is stung. “There are some new ones now that are 15 years old”, he replies with a smile.
During his interview sequence “null”Thierry Ardisson had asked the interpreter to I would lie to you : “ Who would you grant the most extenuating circumstances to? An old man who hits young people or a young man who hits old people? After a period of reflection, the singer, now 67 years old, replied: “Ah, that’s difficult. That’s a good question. Not as bad as that. An old man who screws young people all the same…”
“Is it because you’re 41?” Audrey Crespo-Mara’s husband joked. “Exactly. You never know, eh. No, but it’s mainly that there are young people who are consenting, whereas people who are generally hit are not fundamentally consenting…” A sequence which will undoubtedly leave those who discover it wondering.
