Discover the surprising reasons why some American celebrities are choosing to move to France. From lifestyle changes to privacy and taxes, this video explores the factors influencing this trend and what it means for the stars. 🌍✨
#Celebrities #USAtoFrance #CelebrityNews #Lifestyle #ExpatLife #EntertainmentNews #Trending #Shorts
#Celebrities #USAtoFrance #CelebrityNews #Lifestyle #ExpatLife #EntertainmentNews #Trending #Shorts
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Why are there so many celebrities moving to France right now?
00:03I'm French and I live in Paris,
00:04and recently I've been noticing a trend of famous people leaving the US and moving to France.
00:10And when they are asked why, they all give the same reason,
00:13which I don't think is the whole truth, let me explain.
00:16So I first became aware of this trend in my last video on the topic,
00:20which is where I learned that George Clooney became French and permanently moved to France.
00:24So I decided to investigate,
00:25and I found out that the Clooney family bought a chateau in Provence.
00:29And not just any chateau, this is the Domaine Le Canadelle in Brignol,
00:33which is valued at 8 million euros.
00:35It is an 18th century mansion with a lot of different rooms and a giant vineyard.
00:40And apparently the Clooneys are not planning to make their own wine,
00:43unlike nearby Chateau Miraval,
00:45which is a wine estate that has been valued at 164 million dollars,
00:50that was owned by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie,
00:53and that has been at the center of their divorce in what gossip newspapers call
00:57The War of the Rosé, which I find to be quite a funny expression.
01:00Back on the topic of why the Clooneys moved to France.
01:04So if you read George Clooney's interviews on the topic,
01:07it's mostly because of our culture of privacy.
01:09And he says,
01:10I was worried about raising our kids in LA in the culture of Hollywood.
01:14It felt like they were never going to get a first shake at life.
01:17In France, they kind of don't care about fame.
01:20And then he continues and he says,
01:22I don't want them to be walking around worried about paparazzi.
01:25And I want to unpack that because it is true that in France,
01:28we do have great privacy laws,
01:30even though, as you'll see after, there's more to the story.
01:32So you have to know that in France,
01:34it is illegal to take a photo or a video of someone in a private place,
01:37like their home or garden.
01:39And it is also illegal to publish photos of celebrities in public places,
01:42unless, you know, their appearance is linked to their job.
01:45Like for example, if they're attending a premiere, that's obviously okay.
01:48And by the way, quick tip, this works as well for normal people.
01:51So if you're coming to Paris,
01:52please do not take photos of people without their consent.
01:55It's like a big no-no in France.
01:57Also, these laws became stricter after Princess Diana's death.
02:00And now famous people will regularly win lawsuits against the press.
02:04Kate Middleton in particular is known to re-protect the private life of her children.
02:08And she has sued the press and won several times.
02:10The most recent one being this one,
02:12where a French gossip newspaper took photos of her children on a ski vacation.
02:16And I have to say that as a French person,
02:18I do respect that culture of privacy.
02:20So that's why I'll only show you info that the celebrities in this video shared willingly.
02:24And it's not just the law.
02:25We also have a culture of not bothering people,
02:28especially in big cities like Paris.
02:30And to tell you more about this,
02:31we have to take a look at Natalie Portman's move to Paris.
02:34So this is not a recent one.
02:35She moved to Paris around 10 years ago,
02:37because her husband at the time was French.
02:39But she recently was in the news,
02:41because she bought a mansion in the Eiffel Tower neighborhood.
02:43And you know that I love architecture,
02:45so I'm going to show you a few photos.
02:46This used to be an embassy.
02:48It is an absolutely gorgeous building.
02:50And for around 15 million euros,
02:52she has a very nice view of her Champs de Mars,
02:54which are the gardens near the Eiffel Tower.
02:56And I've talked about her in a past video,
02:58but she has three interesting cultural observations about France.
03:01And she says in a French interview that
03:03Paris is the easiest place to live when you're a celebrity,
03:06because Parisians are respectful of your private life
03:08and just kind of leave you alone.
03:10And she also says,
03:11and I find that pretty funny,
03:12that most of the people who come up to her in the street
03:15are tourists and not Parisians.
03:17In my personal experience,
03:18this is 100% true.
03:19In Paris, just like in other big cities,
03:22you see celebrities all the time.
03:23And after a while, you're kind of just used to it.
03:25And my personal rule is that
03:27if I see a celebrity
03:28and I don't have anything meaningful to say to them,
03:30then I'm not going to bother them.
03:32And I think most people agree with me.
03:33A while back,
03:34I was a plus one at an apartment party
03:36with several very famous A-listers,
03:38including someone who won an Oscar.
03:40And obviously that is not my usual type of party.
03:43That was like my one and only time
03:45being at that type of parties.
03:46But I have to say that
03:47it really felt like a normal apartment party
03:49and no one who had no reason to spoke to them
03:51bothered them
03:52and no single person asked for a photo.
03:54Also in France, we're a more egalitarian society.
03:57So in general,
03:58it is important to not stand out too much,
04:01even for celebrities.
04:02And often Natalie Portman talks about this
04:04and says that the highest compliment
04:06someone can give her
04:07is that she's very discreet.
04:09I've talked about it before on the channel,
04:10but in France,
04:11obvious displays of wealth,
04:13like for example, supercars,
04:14are not seen as very tasteful.
04:16And people instead try to focus on this idea
04:18of being discreet
04:19and less obvious displays of wealth.
04:22And another way we tend to be more discreet in France
04:24is through beauty standards.
04:26For example,
04:27there's this idea that you should find
04:29what works best for you
04:30to highlight your natural features
04:31instead of keeping up with the trends
04:33if they don't work for you.
04:35I personally really like French skincare
04:37for that reason
04:37and in particular,
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05:02I also have their tinted serum
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05:08Recently,
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05:25But there are other reasons
05:26why celebrities are moving to France.
05:28The first one being a bit obvious
05:30when you think about it
05:31and the other one,
05:32well,
05:32I don't think a lot of people
05:33are talking about it.
05:34So as you know,
05:35I have a video series
05:36where I react to celebrities
05:38speaking French
05:38and lately,
05:39I have to tell you,
05:40I have almost too much content.
05:42It seems that every celebrity I like
05:44is either promoting a movie in France,
05:46acting in French
05:47or saying they're gonna move to France.
05:49And you know,
05:50don't get me wrong,
05:51I love that people are interested in my culture,
05:53but I kind of want to understand why
05:55and also why now?
05:56And it turns out,
05:57I'm not the only one noticing that
05:59because there has been a series of articles
06:01on the topic,
06:02including this one called
06:03Why Hollywood Stores Are Fleeing to France.
06:06And it turns out
06:07that our movie industry
06:08is kind of having a moment
06:10and attracting a lot of big names.
06:12As you probably know,
06:13recently Hollywood has been through a lot.
06:15There has been the writer's strikes,
06:17the studio mergers
06:18and the production slowdowns,
06:20which means that LA is becoming
06:21less and less attractive for some actors,
06:24like Aaron Paul,
06:25who decided to move to Paris
06:26after the LA fires last summer.
06:28And it seems that in comparison of all that,
06:30France is becoming an attractive alternative,
06:33especially since we already have
06:34a strong movie industry
06:35with trained crews
06:36that are used to working
06:37on international productions.
06:39And also,
06:40it doesn't hurt that our government
06:41is attracting international productions
06:43with generous tax breaks,
06:45which means that production costs
06:47end up being way cheaper
06:48than in Hollywood.
06:49So this is probably why you've noticed
06:51that so many TV shows and movies
06:52are filmed in France recently,
06:54and even some major American productions
06:56were moved to France
06:57after the Hollywood strikes,
06:59like the movie Head of States,
07:00where they were able to recreate
07:01pretty much every single country in the movie,
07:04only in the south of France.
07:05Also, the one I'm really excited about
07:07is the new season of White Lotus,
07:09which is gonna be in Saint-Tropez,
07:11and I can't wait to see
07:12who the French actors are.
07:14So yeah,
07:14this is one of the reasons
07:15why you see movie stars relocating to France,
07:17at least for a few months,
07:19and then coming back
07:20and promoting the movies they've shot.
07:21But another thing I find interesting
07:23is that our smaller independent cinema
07:25is attracting big names,
07:27like Angelina Jolie,
07:28who recently starred in Couture,
07:30which is a French-American
07:31fashion industry cancer drama.
07:33And by the way,
07:34she's also reportedly planning
07:36to move to France.
07:37I found out about that
07:38in this article from Le Monde,
07:39where they interview Olivier Assayas,
07:41who is the French director
07:43that made the movie
07:43The Wizard of the Kremlin,
07:45which is a movie where Jude Law,
07:47who by the way,
07:47also has a house in France,
07:49plays Vladimir Putin,
07:51which, you know,
07:51is quite a change from seeing him
07:53in the rom-coms I love,
07:54if you ask me.
07:55Anyway, Olivier Assayas says
07:56that independent European cinema
07:58is currently attracting
08:00a lot of American actors
08:01who want to enjoy more freedom
08:03in smaller productions
08:04and are tired of just acting
08:05in front of a green screen
08:07and starring in mega franchises.
08:09And an example of that
08:10is the work of French director
08:12Rebecca Zlotowski,
08:13who has a history of casting people
08:15she knows to love France
08:16in her movies.
08:18Like recently,
08:18she made A Private Life
08:19with Jodie Foster,
08:20who acts fully in French,
08:22but she also made Planetarium
08:23with Natalie Portman
08:24and Lily Rose Depp,
08:26who is the daughter
08:26of French actress
08:27Vanessa Paradis
08:28and Johnny Depp.
08:29And all of this
08:30also tends to attract
08:31American directors,
08:32like Wes Anderson,
08:34for example,
08:34who has been living
08:35in France for a while,
08:36or Jim Jarmusch,
08:37who recently applied
08:38for French citizenship,
08:40and who says,
08:41my next films
08:42will all be shot in France.
08:43Shooting in the US
08:44is prohibitive.
08:45It's stressful.
08:46It's traumatizing.
08:47And if you've watched
08:48this video I made,
08:49you know that coming to France
08:50to live a more free
08:52and creative life
08:52is not a new trend.
08:54We've always had famous people
08:55like Hemingway,
08:56Josephine Baker,
08:57and James Baldwin
08:58come and live in Paris.
09:00And there's kind of a certain
09:01romantic idea of Paris
09:02in particular
09:03that's associated with artists,
09:05writer,
09:06and high culture in general
09:07that has been attracting people
09:08to France for centuries.
09:10And if you've seen the movie
09:11Midnight in Paris,
09:12it's exactly this idealized,
09:14artsy version of France
09:15I'm talking about.
09:16And listen,
09:17I have no doubt
09:17that our culture
09:18and our movie industry
09:19are a big part
09:20of why celebrities
09:21are moving to France.
09:22But I think there's also
09:23something else
09:24people are not talking about
09:25in official interviews.
09:27So while I was researching
09:28this video,
09:29I looked at a lot of
09:30AD home tours.
09:31And I couldn't help
09:32but grow a little bit suspicious.
09:34And not because these are staged,
09:36I already know that
09:37and that's not what
09:38I'm gonna tell you about.
09:39So one tour in particular
09:41that caught my eye
09:42is Lenny Kravitz's
09:43incredible mansion in Paris.
09:45It's in a palace
09:46that used to belong
09:47to a countess
09:47and it is incredibly
09:49well decorated,
09:50which makes sense
09:51given that he has
09:51an interior design studio.
09:53And one thing I noticed
09:54is that this palace
09:55that I could only dream about
09:57is described in an AD article
09:59as a crash pad.
10:01And they also say
10:01that he has a compound
10:02in the Bahamas
10:03and a ranch in Brazil.
10:04And here my suspicions
10:06were kind of confirmed
10:07by Johnny Depp's story.
10:08So as you probably know,
10:09he was with a French woman,
10:10Vanessa Paradis,
10:11for a really long time.
10:13And he has been very vocal
10:14about how much
10:15he loves Europe
10:15and he loves France.
10:16And he even bought
10:17a full village
10:18in the south of France
10:19where you can stay
10:20in different rooms
10:21that are the different
10:21buildings of the village.
10:23Like you can sleep
10:23in a church
10:24or in a cafe,
10:25which I have to admit
10:26is pretty cool.
10:27And many years ago,
10:28he was interviewed
10:28about his love of Europe
10:30by the Guardian.
10:31And at this point,
10:31I think the interviewer
10:32and most of us,
10:34I'd say,
10:34thought he was living in Europe.
10:35So there's kind of an awkward moment
10:37where the interviewer
10:38kind of asks him
10:39if he would ever consider
10:40living in the US again.
10:42And his answer is,
10:43and I quote,
10:44well,
10:44I kind of do.
10:45I'm between whenever I end up
10:46on location
10:47and then the States.
10:48And here I love this article
10:49because the interviewer writes,
10:51what?
10:51Hang on a minute.
10:52Why did he leave France?
10:54He makes a sore noise.
10:55Part grunt,
10:56part harumph.
10:57And then this is Johnny Depp's answer,
10:58because France wanted a piece of me.
11:00They wanted me to become
11:01a permanent resident.
11:02Permanent residency status,
11:04which changes everything.
11:05And he mimes
11:06peeling off notes in his palm.
11:08D'oh.
11:08Money.
11:09This is a very funny interview
11:10because Johnny Depp
11:11speaks very candidly
11:12about not wanting
11:13to pay taxes in France.
11:15Like he likes France enough
11:16to buy a village,
11:17but not enough
11:17to become a permanent resident.
11:19And I like that
11:19the interviewer pushes back
11:21and mentions that
11:22the taxes are kind of the thing
11:23that are funding
11:24what Johnny Depp likes
11:26about our country,
11:27like the culture
11:27or the safety.
11:29And here I am not dunking
11:30on Johnny Depp in particular.
11:32Like he's the only one
11:33saying openly
11:33that he doesn't want
11:34to become a permanent resident.
11:36But I'm sure pretty much
11:37everyone in this video
11:38does the same.
11:38Although I can't
11:39obviously know for sure.
11:40In any case,
11:41AD makes the job easier for us
11:43because they have
11:43all of these roundup articles
11:45of celebrities' homes,
11:46which I have to admit
11:47I enjoy looking at.
11:48So my point here
11:49is that celebrities
11:50don't move somewhere
11:50like a normal person would do.
11:52They just maintain houses
11:54around the world
11:54for different reasons.
11:56Like maybe they're an investment,
11:57maybe they're a status symbol,
11:59maybe they're a project
12:00that gives them
12:00some kind of cultural prestige,
12:02like buying a vineyard.
12:03And at the moment,
12:04it seems that France
12:05fits particularly well
12:07into the celebrity circuit.
12:08For example,
12:09it is not a coincidence
12:10that all the farmhouses,
12:12chateaus,
12:13and villages
12:13I mentioned in this video
12:14are all in the same region
12:16of Provence,
12:17which is only a short helicopter
12:18right away from Cannes,
12:20Saint-Tropez,
12:21and Monaco.
12:21Which means that they can be secluded,
12:23but that they're still
12:24perfectly positioned
12:25for the type of social calendar
12:27a celebrity would maintain.
12:28So no celebrities
12:29are not exactly fleeing the US
12:31to escape to France permanently
12:33like some headlines make it seem,
12:35they're just adding
12:35another location to their list.
12:37And that's all for me today.
12:39If you enjoyed this video,
12:40go check out the ones
12:41that are on screen right now.
12:42I'll see you there.
12:43Bye for now.
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