Patrick Roussel, singer Johnny Hallyday’s driver and security chief, lived alongside the artist for almost 17 years. A 100% life that he recounts in his book entitled Everyone called him Johnny, published on June 4, 2023 by Mareuil Éditions.
In this work which has already caused a lot of ink to flow, several intimate details of the life of the owner are revealed, in particular on his relationship with his daughter Laura Smet or with his first son David, born of his love affair with singer Sylvie Vartan. The one who has long been considered the idol of young people also had thousands of fans present in his life. While some of them were able to remain discreet, others did not hesitate to cross the red line, even if it meant entering into illegality.
This is one of the misadventures that happened to the couple of Johnny and his wife Laeticia Hallyday. One day, the latter discovered that their mobile phone had been hacked, so that an “individual managed to listen to their messages”. Worse still, this fanatic had “remotely changed the announcement of the answering machine”. In this madness, he had “contacted a friend of the couple posing as their assistant”.
Bad luck for the latter, over the incessant calls to Johnny Hallyday’s home, he ended up making a mistake: revealing his own telephone number. It was enough for Patrick Roussel not to end up finding the individual and setting a trap for him. Passing himself off as an employer looking for an “extra” for the same evening, he offers her a meeting at his home in order to finalize the interview. The unsuspecting fan agrees that “the string seemed a little big”.
Accompanied by two security colleagues, Patrick Roussel then went to the home of the fan who, after realizing the deception, tried to block their entrance to his home. A desperate gesture that did not prevent them from returning. “Once inside, it was a shock: the apartment was a real museum to the glory of Johnny Hallyday”, says Patrick Roussel in his book.
Like many fans, the young man had accumulated several posters of the singer as well as objects bearing his likeness. After erasing the data he had been able to recover and the number of the singer, the fan was never talked about again.