Les Enfoirés are celebrating their 40 years of solidarity commitment. But between scandals and accidents, this 2025 edition promises to be eventful…
The Enfoirés 2025 concert returns at the start of the year like snow in the mountains. From Tuesday January 14 to Monday January 20, the biggest French stars will meet at the Arena in Montpellier, for a new series of shows which will result in a television broadcast in March. On the program, 7 exceptional evenings to raise funds for the Restos du Cœur, which helps nearly 900,000 people in precarious situations.
For this 40th anniversary edition, many faithful artists responded, Patrick Bruel to Zazie, via Nolwenn Leroy, Julien Clerc and Michèle Laroque. The troupe will even include a highly anticipated new addition, the young singer Pierre Garnier, a revelation of the Star Academy awarded at the MTV EMAs.
However, the festivities risk being somewhat overshadowed by the notable absence of a key figure of the Enfoirés. Singer Slimane, at the heart of a harassment scandal, would have been excluded from the tour by the organizers. The author of “Now”, the Enfoirés 2021 single and last candidate for Eurovision with “Mon Amour”, was accused in the fall by two technicians for facts which allegedly took place on the night of the 17th to the 18th December 2023, during a party organized after a concert in Saint-Étienne. A complaint for sexual assault was even filed.
The 35-year-old artist’s team cited his international tour to justify his absence on the Enfoirés stage. But 20 Minutes recalls that after two dates on January 8 and 9 at the Accor Arena in Paris, the winner of The Voice is “free” until a concert in Berlin on January 23. Several media outlets believe that the organizers of the Enfoirés preferred to avoid the scandal and did not want to find themselves “in the same complicated logistical situation as a year ago, where one of the two complainants was part of the technical team and did not obviously didn’t want to meet him backstage.”
And the Enfoirés 2025 are definitely marked by difficulties since another star, Vianney, was the victim of a scooter accident in Paris on January 7. Seriously injured, the singer for a time cast doubt on his participation, but ultimately reassured his fans. He will be present at the Montpellier Arena this week, despite his leg in a cast. “Note to self: scootering in Paris is riskier than backcountry skiing,” the artist joked on Instagram.
Despite these difficult times, the spirit of solidarity and generosity that has driven the Enfoirés for 40 years should remain intact. And the 2025 edition still seems to have an audience, since four out of seven dates were sold out at several retailers at the time of writing.