Gossip is a marathon, not a sprint. I mean, gossip can be a sprint as well, but the best gossip is a long-simmering, years-long evolution with tons of backstory. So it is with Vanessa Paradis. Remember when Vanessa and Johnny Depp first got together? She was impossibly cool, impossibly chic French woman who finally got Depp to settle down into a life of pleasant French domesticity. They famously never married, but years later, when they split, they worked out something that amounted to a divorce settlement, and Vanessa is well taken care of financially. When they split, the gossip was that Depp just needed to be free and that Vanessa was a wet blanket, a nagging bitch (or so “sources” claimed). In the years since their split, Depp married Amber Heard and she divorced him after he repeatedly abused her. Now the headlines are about how Depp pissed away a $600 million fortune and that his life has a “last days of Elvis” feel.
My point? Vanessa was patient. She took the long view. And now she looks really good compared to Depp. She’s the one raising their children, she’s the one with her sh-t together, she’s the one still working constantly and living her life without an abusive pile of scarves. And now she’s married a man she’s known for more than a decade:
Vanessa Paradis has a ring on it. Johnny Depp’s former companion married film director Samuel Benchetrit in a discreet ceremony on Saturday afternoon. This is the first marriage for the French singer and actress. Paradis and Depp’s two children — daughter Lily-Rose, 19, and son Jack, 16 — were also in attendance.
According to the French newspaper Le Parisien, the couple married in a small schoolhouse town hall in Saint-Simeon, a commune located one hour west of Paris in north-central France. The bride, 45, carried a bouquet of pink roses while wearing a lacy cream-colored gown with an embroidered veil. Her hair was styled down, with flowers among her tresses.
The couple became engaged last November, a source tells PEOPLE, after they worked together on the film Chien, which screened this May at the Cannes Film Festival. Approximately two dozen guests were invited to the ceremony, according to eyewitness reports. Saint-Simeon, a tiny country village of less than 900, was selected for its discretion as well as the attachment Paradis has for the village. She has a country estate nearby, and until his death last year, her father owned a small restaurant in the quiet country commune.
You can see the photos at Le Parisien, link below. The reason I say that they’ve known each other for more than a decade is because that’s how back the photos go – they’ve known each other professionally for a long time. They knew each other back when she was with Depp. But maybe they just got together last year. Anyway, I’m glad that Vanessa did it her way, and I’m glad her kids were there to see their mom get hitched. I guess Jack Depp’s “serious illness” cleared up?
Mariage de Vanessa Paradis et Samuel Benchetrit : les images de la sortie de la mairie https://t.co/IYIxHIsKtD #Rediff https://t.co/IYIxHIsKtD
— Le Parisien (@le_Parisien) June 30, 2018
Photos courtesy of Getty.
Good for her. I am glad she has moved on and is living her life without the excess baggage known as JD. I just hope she is happy and blissfully content. Lord knows she must have been in agony being with JD.
Congrats!
Yes congrats on living your best life!
Also, he’s hot. This is a real step up.
Knowing what JD treated Amber like in the short amount of time they were together, I can only imagine the stuff Vanessa had to put up with being with him for so long 🙁 I hope that this man treats her well and they have a long and happy marriage! She looks very happy in the picture in the tweet 🙂
There were rumours of him being abusive to Vanessa and Winona Ryder has hinted that she was in an abusive relationship with she was very young (she was young when she got together with Depp). He and Kate Moss had a ‘volatile’ relationship with one famous occasion where has smashed up a hotel room during a fight with her.
He’s not a nice man and never has been.
But didn’t Vanessa and Winona both publicly state that Depp never abused them after Amber went public? I know Kate stayed silent, so who knows there, but as much as we talk about believing women when they say they’ve been abused shouldn’t we also believe them when they say they weren’t?
Anyway, congrats to Vanessa and I wish her & her new husband happiness.
I think Vanessa somehow was able to keep Johnny from being such a train wreck. He was a huge one before her and after. Same with Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen.
SMCOLLINS, Sounds like he might have been petulant and difficult with them, emotionally manipulative but not physically abusive, so not the same pattern of abuse Amber experienced with him.
@smcollins, it’s difficult because different women define their abuse differently. For me, it’s very clear that Johnny Depp has been a cruel and inconsiderate partner in many many ways over the last few decades. I think if you were to present the question to his previous partners in that way, they would probably hesitate but admit that this much was true about him, all while adding in the requisite caveats about how he’s “offbeat” and “different” and simply a maverick who they were not cut out for being with. And while he may have never been violent towards them specifically, he was certainly a violent *person* in general.
I don’t disagree with you that women should have the freedom to define their experiences as they see fit. But that doesn’t mean that their experiences can’t fit into a larger pattern of disrespect and cruelty, which is probably the case here.
But you don’t know what happened
I’m happy for her and mean her no ill will but let’s not forget that she supported Depp’s claim that Amber Heard was lying about being abused. She could have just stayed silent, instead she *released* a letter to the press to attacking Amber’s credibility and veracity. Forcing Amber to produce more evidence of the abuse. Not cool.
————————————
“Insisting Johnny is a loving man who has never been physically abusive to women.
“She calls Heard’s claims “outrageous,” adding, “In all the years I have known Johnny, he has never been physically abusive with me and this looks nothing like the man I lived with for 14 wonderful years.”
http://www.celebitchy.com/487928/johnny_depps_exes_vanessa_paradis_lori_anne_allison_say_he_didnt_abuse_them/
Yeah that didn’t look very good. I thought then and still do that Vanessa was covering because he is her kids father. For their sake, and partly her own because otherwise people might think she is similar or else weak. Old french tradition amongst some women but it’s not healthy, especially for girls.
I get that she was covering for her children’s father in which case she can say he never abused me or my kids. But she took it up a notch by calling Amber’s claims “outrageous”. This was in the beginning stages where many Depp fans were calling her a lying fame Ho. Abuse victims have an challenging job to prove their claims. People call them names or say they are crazy. I’m sure Amber was going crazy in her head already by thinking *she* must have done something to cause her own abuse.
It’s a horrible thing to have done to an abused woman and a bad example to set for her daughter. No doubt some of it might have to do with Vanessa and her daughter not liking Amber but it’s still not right.
She deserves some happiness and love after the horrific abuser Depp. I hope this man is kind and loving to her and her children.
Coming from a Pitt sympathizer. Lmao
Good going Magnolia. Silence is the best reply to a fool.
We need to take some deep breaths to prepare ourselves for the pictures of Depp that are surely coming: Depp looking wan, ill, depraved, druggy, drunk, depressed, generally scarfy and scurvy-ish. Maybe her engagement was why he has been exploring the bottom of whatever he fell into. Oh well, congrats to the lovely couple!
What is her appeal as an actress or model? I’ve never understood it, she’s labeled cool but I just don’t get it.
She definitely got the better life .
She’s an uber famous singer in France. Always has been
She’s a surprisingly good actress. Has a lot of presence and range.
She’s been a French A-lister for the past 30 years but managed to stay low key and discreet about her private life.
She seems funny and self-deprecating and I’ve never heard anything bad about her.
I loved the English speaking album she did that Lenny Kravitz produced.
YES!! Love her 😊😊. I’m not a rom-com person, but this movie was so funny and cute…even my husband loved it!
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1465487/?ref_=m_nmfmd_act_16
I always had the impression she never cared whether she was a huge star in America or outside of France.
She was very popular in Quebec starting in the 1990’s where there is a francophone population of about 5-6 million people. But yes, she built a career in French and never cared much about American market – no real need to.
She’s had an interesting trajectory. In Montreal in the late 80’s/early 90’s, I remember her as a child star in music videos, awkwardly sexed up with skimpy outfits, heavy eye makeup and an ultra effects-laden breathy voice. Then there was the controversial movie where she plays a 16-year old schoolgirl having a torrid affair with her much older (around age 50?) teacher. I feel Vanessa has been exploited her whole life, but maybe she’s always been in control. I hope this marriage works out and brings her lasting happiness.
This. She is a French star and that has always been more than enough for her. I wish her all the best. She seems like a lovely person & the new hubby is cute
In a side note I hope Jack is doing better
I think the Lenny Kravitz years were her crack at the US market, but it’s very hard for the French to cross the ocean. Americans can’t understand a word they say in interviews, they don’t like the way they dress, it’s just a huge cultural gap. Mylene Farmer wrote a great song about her encounter with Hollywood and how it basically chewed her up and spit her out, and she was the Madonna of Europe at the time.
Vanessa is legendary, Johnny Depp was lucky to land her and to have kids with her. She’s multi-talented and beautiful and she was way better than him in both music and acting.
I heard of her before I heard of Depp – her song Joe le Taxi was a hit in the UK in 1988 while I didn’t hear of Depp until Edward Scissorhands 2 years later. I think she and Depp were more a partnership of equals which doesn’t seem to be his thing these days.
OMG I remember Joe Le Taxi. It made the rounds on indie radio in the U.S. when I was in high school. Of course Depp was also an established teen heart throb by then thanks to 21 Jump Street. Sounds like their early fame was around the same time.
I saw her in Coupe, Coupe, which video they pulled from YouTube, alas, and I thought it was marvelous. She’d have been about 17 then I think.
She became famous as a singer at age 13 or 14 in France, her song Joe le taxi was a hit in other European countries as well. She then recorded an album produced by Lenny Kravitz (a very good one, btw) and later went into acting. She’s also been modeling. She ‘s a superstar in France, far more famous than JD.
Exactly. She is an icon in France. And she dated Kravitz for a while and they were HOT.
Vanessa has always taken the high road. She is a class act.
Vanessa is amazing. She truly is a superstar in France. She doesn’t often look great in candid photos to me, but she’s SO beautiful in motion, on video. And very striking in her modeling photos. She’s a super famous singer in France, but she’s also actually a really interesting, really great actress. She stars in one of my favorite movies: The Girl on the Bridge. Watch it! She is mesmerizing. I guarantee you that you will understand the appeal and fame of Vanessa then. I watch it at least once a year.
She has the “it” quality. My eye is always drawn to her, even when she was in pictures with Depp…she was the one I would look at.
He definitely had a type back then. She always reminded me of Kate Moss. However, I was always distracted by the gap in her front teeth. On my mind….I thought her son with Depp was gravely ill. Yet she slipped a marriage in. Seems odd.
@Nancy i think the gap is cute. imperfections like that make people memorable, especially when the rest of her is so beautiful
I love her gap.
Her appeal is, she DRIPS style. The “nape of the neck” thing is true. Blinding charisma in person.
Her father was famous.
They worked together on one of his films in 2016 so I wonder if that where the romantic relationship started. Hopefully. That’s always healthier than starting with an affair.
Interesting that as I recall Vanessa was the one who never wanted to marry, while Depp did. And now she’s married. Very interesting.
Don’t take the bait the article set up by implying that just because they knew each other for ten years, they must have had an affair! Depp and Paradis have been separated since 2012, that’s SIX years! And a simple trip to Vanessa’s Wiki page shows she had another relationship with a French singer/actor in 2014-2015. Of course there was no overlap between Depp and this Benchetrit dude! And I find it pretty nasty to imply that there was…
maybe she said she didn’t want marriage when it turns out she really just didn’t want marriage to johnny.
It appears so!
Congrats and good for her!
So, I wonder what the news that the son was seriously ill meant? If he recovered so quickly why disclose an illness at all?
I wondered about that, too. It seems strange that she had to leave whatever she had committed to in order to be with her sick son, and now suddenly she’s married. I don’t think there’s anything nefarious going on, but it is interesting.
What type of illness? If he had a deathly high fever last week, he could be absolutely fine today. Not really suspect that a young person had a worrisome illness that passed.
Hi all! There is a difference between gravely ill and seriously ill. A few years back I was seriously ill with sepsis. I was not gravely ill. But I was hospitalized for IV antibiotics and my mother did take time off work to be with me (and I was 36!). I was out of the hospital in 4 days. But it was serious. Just not grave.
I should have come down further. I just mentioned the same thing above. It was everywhere how sick their son was, now not a beep. Hmm………….
no one said it was a physical illness though. he’s 16, his dad is losing it, my first thought was emotional struggles.
I wonder if it was an overdose.
Actually, I read in a french newspaper that her son didn’t attend the wedding…
Thanks Maum, I’ll look to what’s available on Netflix etc and give her a try
Congrats to them! Lovely couple.
Good wishes,Vanessa! And I LOVE that she went so traditional with her bridal togs. Lovely! She could have married a discarded pizza box and that would still have been a step up from Depp. This man has a job,looks sober, and appears to be washed. Already light years above Johnny.
“Discarded pizza box.” Thanks for the chuckle. And echo the happy wishes for the newlyweds.
this is actually a creepy situation with her wedding. Let me explain:
Vanessa Paradis used to be friends with Anna Mouglalis who’s quite famous in France (i guess Vanessa would be equally famous if it wasn’t for marriage to Depp who made her known internationally),who’s also a socialite and Karl Lagerfeld’s muse. Some time ago Vanessa started dating a French singer Benjamin Biolay who then left her for Anna which kind of ruined their friendship (duh). Vanessa’s response? Marrying Anna’s baby daddy Samuel Benchetrit. Even though Anna and Samuel have broken up in 2012 it’s still creepy af. Did they run out of people to date in France?
I don’t live in France but I have known about Vanessa for a long time before she got with Depp. Joe le taxi was all over when I was a kid, and I remember her dating Lenny Kravitz. I never followed her career very closely but Johnny wasn’t the one who made her famous.
Creepy? That’s hardly scandalous. Plus I think you are really reaching with all of this.
Interesting, I did no know that – thanks. Not necessarily creepy but still weird and awkward.
It’s a little weird, but it sounds like they were in each other’s social circle for a long time, and maybe the friendship grew to something more?
And much time has passed since then and this marriage. The one that always seems extra odd to me is the Shania Twain situation.
yeah just sounds like they run in small circles. i know someone who is married to and has a child with a woman who used to be married to his good friend and business partner, and this is a big city on the west coast. there’s not always hard feelings after a breakup, people move on with their lives.
OMG crogirl I had totally forgotten about Jo le taxi!
The top circles are pretty small anywhere, and France and London don’t have the celebrity turnover that Hollywood does.
Ha that reminds me of how Shania Twain got remarried to the husband of her ex-husband’s mistress! I always thought it was kind of weird but sweet how they got together.
@Amelie, it is weird. Love that started on revenge. weird
“Living her life without an abusive pile of scarves.”
I will be laughing about this all day.
Right !!!!
A pile of scarves that reek of weed and sulfur.
@Kaiser – you slay all day
An abusive pile of scarves that jingles when it walks because of all the tacky faux-hippy (fippy?) jewelry it wears…
Also, I really appreciate than Vanessa seems to be aging naturally despite having means and access to tweak her face into oblivion
I do too. Good for her, hope she’s happy.
Love it too the only thing I don’t like is the little gum/skin that hangs down between her front rotting teeth. I’m American I need healthy gum and teeth, sorry.
Sorry, HMMM, I never realised that all those American celebrities with caps and veneers = healthy teeth and gums. Thanks for educating me.
🙄
@Hmmm, As a European I cringe every time I see an American with veneers that look like toilet porcelain. There are very subtle, natural looking veneers, and STILL some people prefer this too white too fake monstrosity. Same with fillers and plastic surgery. Hugely overdone in LA. Subtle work will always look like you age naturally and just got genetically blessed.
I agree with you about the veneers. A dentist visit to make sure your gums are healthy doesn’t mean you have to get veneers. I don’t have veneers but visit the dentist for cleanings and whatever else needs to be done to have a healthy mouth. Johnny and Vanessa are rich and can afford a dentist visit, two or many
Congratulations to them! I’m glad her son was well enough to attend.
Well she’s certainly upgraded there (he’s gorgeous!) although I’m sure ‘upgrading’ plays no part in Vanessa’s life since she’s always been a class act and way too grounded and dignified for the tit-for-tat nonsense that her moronic ex indulges in and subjected her to.
Beautiful wedding pics. Wishing them both a wonderful life. <3
Paradis stated very clearly he never abu sed her or their kids. For most of his time with her, he was sober and clean and they were together a very long time living a quiet life. When he went crazy, she left. She got a very different version of him than Heard did. Stop with the assumptions here especially when she has clearly said she was not a victim of abuse. Drugs and booze have made him a very different man than he was back then.
Johnny was sober when he was with her? I didn’t think Johnny has been sober in his adult life.
Johnny has been sober off and on. Clearly, he’s in a bad spot now. I remember interviews when he was with Vanessa and he was sober. The I recall interviews where he quit drinking for a year following his split with Vanessa. hope he gets some help. And I am so happy for Vanessa – she is lovely!
https://www.business2community.com/entertainment/johnny-depp-rehabbing-alcohol-home-01113552
Shes actually one of my favorite actress-singer types. She’s also always been rich and famous – since childhood she was huge in Europe and French speaking countries. I just like her career and she’s still got it music-wise. Still performs. I love her voice. I always thought she was cooler than Depp. She’s got a uniqueness which I love and is rare . Well less rare for French women I guess. Plus I love that her face looks appropriately “her age”.
She’s no Pat Benatar (who studied opera at Juilliard) but I always liked her cute, poppy songs from 20 years ago. Although it was creepy the way they sexploited her, even as a very young child.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bTYk5VccAA
Pat Benatar is a whole different league. Love her!
I adore her too, I was just talking about vocal strengths.
Wow I’m seriously shocked. Johnny always said Vanessa was the hold out when it came to marriage and she went and did this.
Happy for her.
He’s HOT! She hasn’t aged well AT ALL but I guess she doesn’t care. Good for her!
While she got money from Depp after they broke up, she is quite well-off by herself. She’s been famous in France for decades as an actress and a singer and she comes from a wealthy family anyway.
Also, after Depp she was in a relationship with French singer Benjamin Biolay, so I don’t think there was any overlapping.
I actually really like Samuel Benchetrit, he is a likeable person. He is a single dad raising his son after his ex (French actress Marie Trintignant) got killed by the guy she left him for. It was a sad story. I’m glad he has found his happiness.
I just read all about the killing of Marie Trintignant last night, after I was looking up who Samuel was. Wow, what a terrible story. The guy brutally attacked her and then claimed he only “slapped” her four times. Claimed she was asleep when her brother came to the room but she was actually in a coma! Reading about her and how famous her parents are in France, I can only imagine how this must have dominated the news.
Her killer only spent four years in prison! He was the lead singer of a famous band. He seems to be a pariah in France now and lots of DV groups have protested any concerts he’s tried to perform at. Sick freak of a man. I hope his career is forever destroyed. She had two children with Samuel that were left without a mother.
I remember well that Vanessa actively defended Johnny Depp after the abuse he perpetrated on Amber Heard. Sad that few people on this thread recall that.
Until we all stand together and condemn defending people that are obvious abusers, abuse will continue.
Vanessa stated that Johnny didn’t abuse her. If that is her truth, should she have lied instead?
She went so far as to call Heard’s allegations as “outrageous.” She didn’t need to lie. But stabbing an abused woman in the back? So much for feminist ideals.
http://www.papermag.com/amber-heard-abuse-accusations-johnny-depp-vanessa-paradis-1828734424.html
Or, not having been abuse for 10+ years by the father of her son’s, she couldn’t believe it – at first, since I don’t think she reiterated – and found the allegations outrageous at that time. Sincerely.
Lots of anti-Vanessa weirdness here in the comments.
Are these the same trolls who went after Amber for daring to not want Johnny anymore?
Congratulations to Vanessa and Samuel; may you have a lifetime of happiness together.
Vanessa is a true beauty! She has always had an air of happiness and confidence. I’m surprised at some of the comments, seeing as everyone is always criticizing the “fake” (plastic surgery) celebs, and she is the complete opposite of that. I think she’s very unique and a gorgeous woman.