Giscard in 1974, then Chirac, Sarkozy, Holland… between Johnny and the presidents, it’s half a century of privileged relations – but regularly poisoned by the rock star’s trouble with the taxman, his obsession. An excerpt from “People and politicians, small services between friends?”, to see in “Complementary investigation”.
“You have not succeeded in your life in the political world if you do not have your photo with Hallyday“, affirms Benjamin Locoge, the journalist of Paris Match who covered all his tours for fifteen years. From Valéry Giscard d’Estaing to François Hollande via Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy, for half a century, all the presidents have displayed themselves with the national rock star. On the other hand, the singer “considered that yes, he could afford to call the presidents when he had something to ask them“, says the journalist. How can you say no to a sacred monster, which has lined up gold records and magazine covers since the birth of the Fifth Republic?
Michel Charasse called to the rescue
This “trick” to ask them is often related to taxes, because Johnny is used to disputes with the tax authorities. The subject has poisoned all his relations with power, whether left or right. In the 1990s, it was François Mitterrand’s Budget Minister, Michel Charasse, whom Johnny called for help. An episode told by his old friend Pierre Billon (the author of the tube I forgot to live). “It was Michel Charasse who did not erase the debt, but helped to restructure it. He said to him ‘Here, we are going to establish a kind of plan, and then we are going to call the record company, and then indeed, you will not necessarily have the 10% [de pénalités] no longer to pay…”
Phone calls to President Sarkozy in the middle of the night
Later, it was Nicolas Sarkozy who was the subject of pressing demands from the beleaguered rock star. Johnny had supported him in 2007, and offered him his campaign anthem. “Occasionallysays Benjamin Locoge, it was phone calls in the middle of the night when he was at the Elysée: ‘I don’t understand why taxes bother me.’ The president cannot say to the tax services ‘Drop Mr. Hallyday’, but yes, there have been many exchanges of this type.”
Were these exchanges insufficiently effective? Still, Johnny, at the turn of an interview, ended up saying he was disappointed by Nicolas Sarkozy. He will not support him in 2012…
Excerpt from “People and politics, small services between friends?”, a document to be reviewed in “Complementary investigation” on November 3, 2022.
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