“If you are a renowned artist and you have an audience, know that the door of Les Enfoirés is wide open to you. We do not co-opt, there is no sponsorship. Do not hesitate to call us if you want to be part of the Enfoirés, we need you”. This is the message sent by Michaël Youn on the airwaves of RTL, in 2020, for the attention of the stars. And the actor Patrick Chesnais was one of them, in 2013. But it didn’t last…
A dispute with Jean-Jacques Goldman
This is what he confided to Jordan De Luxe, this February 9, 2023, when he was received on the set of the show “At Jordan’s, on C8. Pushed by his host, the actor seen in “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” and more recently in “Him” by Guillaume Canet evoked an argument with the big boss of the Enfoirés: Jean-Jacques Goldman.
He who composed “The Restaurant Song”at the beginning of the operation, under the impetus of Coluche in person, ensured the artistic direction of the Enfoirés show between 1986 and 2016. And in 2013, when Patrick Chesnais was invited to join the band, (that year , there was also Alizée, Chimène Badi, Amel Bent, Thomas Dutronc, Jenifer, Lorie, Mika…), there was a little hiccup around the interpretation of a title.
“A detail”, assures Patrick Chesnais, who also details this Thursday: “I said it was better to sing ‘Là-bas’ like that, and he insisted that I sing like that, and I was sure of my shot, and so was he! An insistence that must not have pleased the original singer-songwriter of the title… And yet, Patrick Chesnais still maintains today: “I always doubt, but when I’m sure of something, I can be stubborn”.
“We did not come to blows”
The actor also tempers: “It’s not very serious, we didn’t come to blows, no, but finally the year after I didn’t do the thing anymore”. However, the movie star does not think that Jean-Jacques Goldman went so far as to personally eject him from the show: “oh I don’t think so, they invite people like that, I was a bit of a guest star…” he said to Jordan de Luxe.
Taking since this event with philosophy, Patrick Chesnais now estimates, (almost) without resentment: “I was not brought into the world to do the Enfoirés. I was born perhaps to play comedy, make films, and incidentally write books”.
>> See also: Singer Stone attacks Michael Goldman and his “Star Academy” promotion: “I hate it, the backlash is going to be difficult!”
AF