The former mistress of a French Champagne magnate has been convicted of harassing him and his family when he ended their three-year relationship – even going after him with a knife and threatening to cut off his penis.
The 48-year-old, known only as Samira L., first turned heads in 2014 when she was dumped by Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, the grandson of the founder of the eponymous Champagne brand, according to Metro UK.
He began sending thousands of messages, the report said – including threats to cut off the married man’s “will”.
“I want to kill you,” he wrote in a text read out during his trial in Paris, The Times of London said.
“I want you dead. Am I clear?”
The 70-year-old grandfather – who once told an interviewer he was paid to eat, drink “and sometimes make love” – initially responded with a loving message.
The ex-mistress of Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, 70, (pictured) was sentenced to a year in prison for harassing him and his family.REUTERS
He also offered to put Samira up in a luxury apartment and pay her rent to help “calm things down,” her lawyer said.
However, the abusive messages continued, and in 2017 — three years after the harassment — she finally reported them to the police.
Days later, the deranged ex took a 90-mile train ride to the Taittinger estate in Reims to confront him — and then pulled out a knife and chased the old tycoon down the street.
Taittinger bought back his family company from American investors in 2007 and served as president of the company until 2019. Facebook/Champagne Taittinger
“If I wear running shoes, I will catch you and I will kill you,” he texted her later, according to a UK Times report.
The ex – who the court was told had a “historical personality” – tried to blame his behavior on his ex-lover, spreading unfounded rumors of deviant behaviour.
“There is not a loving man on the one hand and a manipulative woman on the other,” her lawyer, Tom Michel, told Le Parisien. “His existence was directed towards Taittinger… He controlled his entire life.
“He felt that he had been defiled,” he said of Samira’s actions. “He wants to do the same back to her.”
Taittinger’s wife Claire, pictured at the family vineyard, was also harassed. AFP via Getty Images
However, Samira L. was convicted of harassing Taittinger as well as his wife, Claire, 76, daughter Vitalie — the current boss of the champagne house — and also another alleged mistress.
He was given a one-year suspended prison sentence, meaning he will remain free if he doesn’t get into trouble.
The abuse “affected my client morally and psychologically,” Taittinger’s lawyer, Nicolas Hubsch, told Journal L’Union.
“This woman has used defamation to damage my client, to intimidate him and put him under pressure.
“He continued to use defamation to defend himself, but the court was not fooled – it handed down the double sentence requested by [the] prosecution,” Hubsch continued. “This is a clear indication of what the judge thinks of his defense.”
Taittinger has been described by Le Monde as “an enthusiastic playboy” and by his own family firm as “aesthete, hedonist and humanist, at the same time a dreamer and a determined man.”
Taittinger handed over control of the company to his daughter, Vitalie, in 2019. AFP via Getty Images
He became president of his family’s company in 2007 after organizing a $660 million deal to buy it back from American investors.
In 2016, Taittinger told the Irish Times: “I get paid to drink, I get paid to eat and make love sometimes, and sometimes drink beautiful champagne.
“Champagne is not only wine, it is a symbol of happiness, a symbol of delicacy, elegance.”
He also said at the time that when he retired, “I will have no more mistresses. My wife will be happy.”
Taittinger eventually relinquished control of the champagne company to his daughter, Vitalie, in 2019.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
