Tragic ball on TF1: the violent altercation between Inès Reg and Natasha St-Pier ultimately left two victims. And other aftershocks could come…
The scandal exploded in the press in mid-March, several weeks after the tragedy. On January 31, in the Malakoff studios, in the Paris region, where the Dancing with the Stars candidates were rehearsing their choreographies for the Friday evening “bonus”, a violent altercation between Canadian singer Natasha St-Pier and comedian Inès Reg, both starring in the telecrochet show. A banal neighborhood quarrel about the music being too loud. The tone rises, insults are uttered. On March 21, the press reported death threats, since denied, as well as the filing of handrails, very real this time.
The revelations will be followed by a series of attacks on social networks and rumors about the supposed behavior of Inès Reg or Natasha St-Pier. Presented for a time as the culprit, Inès Reg will be confronted with a flood of insults based on racism and grossophobia. Natasha St-Pier, laid off for three days by production, will also suffer from a smear campaign. Everything was obviously filmed, reality TV requires, but the clash has not (yet?) been broadcast and TF1 hopes to calm things down. But the attempts to patch things up, with lots of footage showing the two stars dancing together, do not will do nothing.
Twist in the night from Sunday to Monday: Inès Reg decides to reveal her truth on her Instagram account. Sometimes in tears, the comedian explains in detail how she experienced the affair as a “victim”. Ultimate proof of the attack she allegedly suffered: an apology SMS from Natasha St-Pier revealed in full, in which she explains that she was thinking of playing a “play” in which she played the “role of the villain “, for one of the “off” sequences that fans are fond of. Natasha St-Pier also assures that she regularly uses the insult with her friends and that it is “second degree”.
Presented as responsible, Natasha St-Pier does not stop there and responds in turn on social networks and in Le Parisien Monday evening. The failed “playbook”? Inès Reg also seemed to be “playing a role” and the singer long believed it was “a joke”. Insults ? She wanted to make a nod to a cult sequence by Inès Reg and Valérie Trierweiler in Beijing Express two years ago. Anger ? It was Inès Reg who threw herself into a “fit of rage”, an “impressive fury”. Handrails? Yes, she felt threatened, in particular by the comedian’s entourage, present backstage following the altercation. His apology text? A request from production… Natasha St-Pier reacts above all to the accusations of racism that she has suffered, denouncing “an extremely serious accusation, which leads to incitement to violence”.
If the two protagonists, like TF1, seem determined to turn the page (Inès Reg assures that she has “no more hatred towards anyone”, Natasha St-Pier wishes to “calm things down”), the scandal has already claimed at least two victims : two stars seriously burned by reality TV, zealous candidates who undoubtedly wanted to go a little too far in front of the cameras and then on the networks, without realizing the grotesque nature of the situation. The 2024 season of DALS also seems to be seriously damaged and we wonder what the rest of the adventure could be. And the failure is complete, since the “play” will probably never be revealed. If she ever is, she probably won’t be doing anyone any favors…