Culture: Dallas Transposed to Neuilly

If you replace the Texan ten gallon hats and oil empire by classic French chic and a cosmetic conglomerate, the drama currently unfolding in the posh Parisian suburb of Neuilly-Sur-Seine has all the hallmarks of the classic 80's television series Dallas. How many of us who grew up watching the machinations of J.R. Ewing and company were left scoffing at the twists and turns of plots seemingly too contrived to be realistic. And yet ...

If you've been keeping up with the latest developments in the Bettencourt saga which currently has all of Paris riveted to news media outlets, then you know that things are not looking particularly good for key players at the center of the controversy. Octogenarian l'Oreal heiress Lilliane Bettencourt has some explaining to do regarding questionable tax avoidance schemes and undeclared Swiss accounts and evidence emerged last week from Bettencourt's lead financial advisor suggesting that French Social Services Minister Eric Woerth may potentially have abused his then status as Budget Minister to secure employment for his wife. Oh dear!

This week, it is celebrity photographer and jet-setting dilettante Francois-Marie Banier who is back in the glare of the spotlight thanks to a separate lawsuit filed by a minority shareholder of l'Oreal. The suit alleges that Banier was awarded a contract worth 4 million Euros by the company for a series of art exhibits and vague consulting work which was never carried out in full. The suit contends that the contract in question was another instance of Banier siphoning funds from Bettencourt this time via assets of l'Oreal rather than the heiress' personal fortune. These fresh allegations are in addition to those filed by Bettencourt's daughter Francoise Bettencourt-Meyer alleging that Banier took advantage of her mother's advancing age and mental frailty to extract cash and countless gifts totalling nearly 1 Billion Euros including valuable artwork and a private island in the Seychelles.

Feuding family, shady dealings, bogus contracts, influence peddling and glamour galore ... This is starting to make the Ewings and their acolytes seem downright boring in comparison. Vive la France!

Sincerely,

The Luxe Chronicles

Comments

[Davidikus]

This is definitely one of the funniest sagas ever! It's a pity the UK or US don't have the culture of openness that can be found in France and everything is so "hush hush"... Otherwise, we would have loads of these stories pouring in the media all the time! Even the story about the head of BP and his escort long term boyfriend was cut very short. On the other hand, the US have produced a true heir to Charlene Tilton: Paris Hilton.

http://davidikus.blogspot.com/

[Helene]

Indeed! I don't think anyone involved in this saga looks particularly good. Perhaps that is the key difference between the Bettencourt clan and the Ewing clan. They need a few goody-two-shoes to offset all the greed and corruption. Try as I might, I can't come up with either a "Miss Ellie" or a "Pam Ewing" in the lot!

This real-life drama will do nicely as I the eagerly-awaited release of Mad Men in the U.K.

Helene

[John Agee Paris]

It just keeps getting juicier and juicier! Where will it all end? Who knows, but I have a feeling the buck will eventually stop at the desk of Monsieur Sarkozy.

The photo of the Dallas cast is priceless. It brought back many a memory to this native Texan. Camp television at its best. I had forgotten just how trashy and delightfully horrible Charlene Tilton was!