Serge Gainsbourg was the ‘Harvey Weinstein of songs’

Serge Gainsbourg was the ‘Harvey Weinstein of songs’, claims French musician Lio who insists singer-songwriter was ‘not cool with girls’

  • The star achieved global fame with hits like Je T’aime… Moi Non Plus in the 60s
  • However, contemporary singer Lio has compared him to the disgraced producer
  • She insisted the singer, who died in 1991, had a ‘real lack of respect’ for women

Serge Gainsbourg was similar to Harvey Weinstein in the way he behaved towards women, one of the France‘s most celebrated contemporary singers has claimed.

The singer-songwriter achieved global fame with hits like Je T’aime… Moi Non Plus and was known for his 12-year relationship with British actress Jane Birkin, whose heavy breathing features on the track.

It was a song so X-rated that it was denounced by the Vatican and banned from airplay in the UK. 

Serge Gainsbourg, pictured with English actress Jane Birkin, was similar to Harvey Weinstein in the way he behaved towards women, one of the France’s most celebrated contemporary singers has claimed

Gainsbourg became a symbol of national pride and was depicted in the media as a popular ladies’ man and an image of Sixties chic. 

French signer Lio, pictured, described him as 'someone who was not cool with girls and who was a Weinstein of songs in a certain way'

French signer Lio, pictured, described him as ‘someone who was not cool with girls and who was a Weinstein of songs in a certain way’

However, French singer Lio has now revealed the star, who died in 1991, was by no means as smooth and charming as many were led to believe and in fact reminded her of the disgraced Hollywood producer.

The 58-year-old, whose real name is Wanda Maria Ribeiro Furtado Tavares de Vasconcelos told Franco-German station Arte Radio: ‘I have gone off Gainsbourg, who is quite simply a harasser. 

‘[He was] someone who was not cool with girls and who was a Weinstein of songs in a certain way.

‘Gainsbourg has become an aristocrat of French music but I am not going to pay homage to him. I have experienced for myself his behaviour that was more than specious towards young women and the real lack of respect that he had.’

The musician had always proved controversial, even alluding to incest and paedophilia in his lyrics. 

Whitney Houston's reaction on a French chat show in 1986 when Gainsbourg said he wanted to 'f*** her'

Whitney Houston’s reaction on a French chat show in 1986 when Gainsbourg said he wanted to ‘f*** her’

Gainsbourg also groped a visibly uncomfortable Catherine Deneuve during a TV appearance in 1980

Gainsbourg also groped a visibly uncomfortable Catherine Deneuve during a TV appearance in 1980

On a French chat show in 1986 he told an audience ‘I want to f***’ Whitney Houston who was appearing alongside him, and a few years earlier, a clearly drunk Gainsbourg began, live on air, fondling actress Catherine Deneuve, with whom he performed Dieu est un fumeur de havanes.

The singer-songwriter was compared to disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein

The singer-songwriter was compared to disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein

It was his relationship with Birkin for which he is perhaps most famous, having met the then 22-year-old on the set of the film Slogan in 1968, where they also recorded the theme tune La Chanson De Slogan, together.

Their first date comprised of a crawl of the nightclubs in Paris, ending up in a transvestite bar.

When Gainsburg was no longer able to hold his booze, he took Birkin back to the Hilton hotel and promptly passed out.

The date was a resounding success though and they swiftly fell in love. In 1971, they would have a daughter, Charlotte.

Birkin went on to have a 13-year love affair with her Frenchman, and despite their long relationship, they never married. Partly due to his drinking, she left him in 1980.

However, Gainsbourg never got over his love for her, right up until the day he died of a heart attack on March 2, 1991.