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TVA Interview-written by Pierre
The first hour was recorded september 9, 2 days after the New York tragedy. For reasons that do not need to be explained, the interview that was supposed to air the following sunday, has been aired today. The interview was mainly focused on Ren?and the media, the paper he is presently suing over the story that Céline and Ren?had paid 5,000$US to shut down a public pool, in order, for them, to be able to swim naked away from prying eyes.... And of course, the interview was also about the fact that Ren?is now seen as a control freak over the media, here in Québec. About the ALLO-VEDETTES lawsuit : Ren?said that there is a limit as to what journalists and newspapers can print about public figures. He doesn't mind the fact that they said that they swimmed naked, as he admitted he would loved to be able to do just that, but with helicopters hovering over your house, and heads, at all hours of the day, it is out of the question. But he hated the fact that they said that they had paid 5,000$ to have a public pool closed. They felt like they were painted as pompous rich people who use their money to deprive the public to use a public pool. He said it was a question of principles, that they have written twice to the newspapers to retract their story, and they have never heard from them. The suit is for 5,000,000 by the way. Ren?also said that they have often won over newspapers who have fabricated stories , and that all the money that comes out of the settlements, goes to charity. The one against the National Enquirer went for cancer research.... The host and Ren?bickered about half and hour on this story, as the host felt it was not a story of great importance. Ren?mentionned several time in the interview the fact that they highly take into consideration the public opinion, here in Québec, and this is why it is so important to him that the media tries at least to respect them, as they have always respected the media here in the past as well. About the story of Ren?forcing 7jours magazine to scrap the cover with Céline being pregnant( and thousands of printed magazines) because he didn't like the titles. The facts are: Michel Jasmin approached Ren?about doing an interview with Céline for his dayly show he had on TVA. Ren?agreed, but they insisted on not being paid for it, as he was doing it for Michel, as a favor for having been the one to give Céline her first chance, on his TV show years ago. And for the public, who wanted to see Céline pregnant. It was decided to make a special occasion out of it, so it was not part of his dayly show after all. Once the interview done, TVA organised a media preview screening, scheduled a few days before the airing date of sunday. It was agreed that ONE photo of Céline pregnant would be given to ALL of the journalists present, for FREE. What Ren?didn't know is that they only gave that photo to the magazine 7jours, which is partly own by TVA. When Ren?heard that, he was not happy, as he felt that TVA was using that photo for their own interests 7jours) after he had agreed to do the show for free. And when he was contacted about the ORIGINAL first page with the now infamous quote of Céline saying " Ren?Charles a déj?un jumeau" " Ren?Charles has already a twin" , he totally flipped out, as the paper would appear on their magazine 3 days before the airing of the interview, and he felt it was "sensationalising" a story, and that for people who hadn't seen the interview yet, they would have a completely erroneous idea of the context this line was said. He then phoned TVA to say that he was not happy about that title, and they are the one who did phone 7jours to have the cover redone with a new title. He admitted asking them to change the title, but he said he never used the interview as a mean to an end, as he said the interview was done for the public, her fans, for Michel BUT not for TVA. About the second wedding: Ren?was shocked to see that images of it was leaked to the press. He said it was done as a joke, that it was a party, paid for them by the Ceasars Palace. He didn't think that it would leak, that it was basically a private party, like a halloween happening etc.... He sort of joked about the camel, as he would admit that he would have thought the same thing, seing people carrying on this way, with the camel, the costumes etc... He would have said himself "Who the hell do they think they are" . He learned from that not to ever trust people you do not really know. About Céline: she is spending about 2 months in Montreal recording a studio album scheduled for released in MARCH 2002. Many producers are coming one after the other to Montreal, for the sessions. He was proud to say that THEY are now the one coming to Céline :) About Las Vegas: He said the theatre is being built specially for Céline, as it was already known. That it will be a show like no other has been seen or done before, it won't be a recital. It will be "grandiose". About the house in Laval: Although, both he and Céline wanted to raise their son in Québec, it was Céline's wish that the house would be THIS big. He would have opted for something a little more modest himself :) He later said that, as a lot of rich Quebecers have done, they could have decided to live in a fiscal paradise such as Monaco where you do not pay taxes, but no, they decided to stay here in Québec, which is probably one the places in the world where the taxes are the highest.... Then, this interview was followed by an updated one just recorded either today or yesterday, saturday. Ren?basically said that in the light of the tragedy in New York, both he and Céline are under shock saying that life would never again be the same, and that this lawsuite against ALLO VEDETTES now seem trivial and they do not want to lose more energy or time on this meaningless paper. They have advided the paper that they are dropping the lawsuit. He did mention that the newspaper wrote them and asked that Ren?pays THEIR portion of the lawyers fee of 50,000$! ( The nerve of them! ) Ren?laugh and said, that obviously, these people have not understood anything, and that of course, he will never agree to such a demand. Ren?went on talking about the families that were decimated, the innocent 6,000 people killed. They are really afraid for the safety of everyone. He was really terrified after seeing Bush speech a few days ago on TV, as he is afraid that it will degenerated and that more innocent people are going to be killed on both side. He now feels, that perhaps, it might not happen this way, but he feels that the americans might start first by CLEANING HOUSE, which means, take care of the terrorists already living at home You could really see that Ren?is deeply affected about this tragedy. And so is Céline according to him. The story about Céline singing GOD BLESS AMERICA: I was happy to hear it from him, as I was afraid that he might have been the instigator, and that again, it might have turned against him in the press. I was hoping that he was asked, rather than him to ask about Céline doing this. The facts according to Ren? Tommy Mottola, head of Sony USA phone Ren?personnally, asking Ren?if Céline could sing "God bless America" for the Tribute to Heroes telethon. Tommy said that the four people behind the 4 major US Netwerks airing the TRIBUTE specifically asked for Céline as they felt that she was THE one that could reach the hearts of ALL the people around the world. They wanted Céline Dion for that. Ren?sort of agreed with Mottola to have the song recorded in Montreal, and then it would be shown on tape during the special, but the people responsible for the TRIBUTE phoned Ren? and insisted that Céline come to New York, as the show was to be LIVE from New York, LA and London in it would be LIVE entirely. They asked him to ask Céline if she could do that. Ren?said that Céline said yes, but it was a big sacrifice for her to leave Ren?Charles behind in Montreal, as it was of course out of the question to make him go through all the stress involved. Ren?said that she is still feeding Ren?Charles. Ren?and Céline went to New York and were touched and terrified to see the magnitude of this disaster, and now life would never be the same from now on. They fear the safety of all children etc... He said that he felt the policmen and firemen would never be seen the same way again. He was touched to see people cheering for them.... They were taken to a recording studio, not a TV studio. Without make up people or any assistants whatsoever. Everyone would be changing and preparing, all together in the same bathroom. He said that the emotion on the set was really palpable and that there was a real rapport / bond between the people involved in New York ( Billy Joel, Springsteen, De Niro etc... ) Back to Index Page
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