A French writer, who claimed to collect Celine Dion’s secrets to write her biography, has just been unmasked. Despite everything, his book should appear in Quebec in the fall, learned La Presse.
Entitled Dis-moi Céline, the 320-page book is the work of Laurence Catinot-Crost, an author who has written several biographies (Tchaikovsky, Rosemonde Gérard), novels, essays and stories for children. In France, Dis-moi Céline should be published in the coming days by City Éditions, a general publishing house which publishes around 120 books each year. His arrival was announced with great fanfare earlier this year.
On its website, Hachette Canada, distributor of City Éditions in Quebec, described the work as “a unique book” in which “the author recounts her conversations over several months with the star of hundreds of millions of records sold worldwide. “. “For the first time, Celine Dion confided in a biographer to tell her true story,” it said.
Recently, Hachette Canada removed this summary. Now, when we want to consult this page, a message advises us that it no longer exists.
Last Friday, City Éditions published a press release intended to “inform the public of certain major details” in relation to the project. It confirms that the book “was not created or written” in collaboration with Celine Dion, and that the Quebec artist was not connected to it in any way.
“Céline Dion has never consented that her reputation, image, name or private life may be used or attached to this book,” adds the publisher.
In an interview with the French site La Dépêche last February, Laurence Catinot-Crost claimed, however, that she had worked directly with “Miss Celine Dion” since 2021, that there was “a lot of communication” between them. She claimed to have “received a lot of information” from the international star, including some “confidences related to international stars”, such as Barbra Streisand or the Gibb brothers, members of the Bee Gees.
In the interview, the 64-year-old writer from Juvisy-sur-Orge, a suburb of Paris (according to her Wikipedia file), defended herself from writing a “noisy biography”. “There will be no scandals or stains on Miss Celine Dion, she announced. On the other hand, there will be certain scoops, at least confidences, all these things which allow people to review their way of perceiving the artist. »
Asked about the opinion she now had of Celine Dion after “all [their] exchanges”, Laurence Catinot-Crost replied that the interpreter of My Heart Will Go On was “a simple, generous and terribly courageous person”.
His reaction to receiving this important mandate? “At first I didn’t believe it, and I still wonder to this day, ‘Why me?’ In fact, my first reaction was to say, “I’m not worthy of this!” »
In France, this interview spread like wildfire. From Public to ELLE, via Gala, Closer and Télé-Loisirs, many media have relayed the statements of the writer.
Dis-moi Céline still appears on Hachette Canada’s fall release program. Its release is scheduled for October, confirms the company.
Reached by telephone, Fabienne Corriveau, head of the press service for Hachette Canada, affirms that the company has never been involved in the edition of the book, nor has it been in contact with Laurence Catinot-Crost. .
Regarding the way the book was initially promoted, either as an authorized biography, Fabienne Corriveau ignores the little story behind this astonishing about-face. “Perhaps there was confusion between the notion of collaboration and authorization between the author and Ms. Celine Dion,” she says.
The preface of the book Dis-moi Céline is signed by the French singer-songwriter Hugues Aufray, now 93 years old. Celine Dion is named after her big hit from 1966, a song simply called Celine.
This is not the first time that Celine Dion has been the subject of a controversial book. In 1997, Montreal author Ian Halperin launched Celine Dion: Behind the Fairytale – A Very, Very, Unauthorized Biography, a book that some have called a collection of gossip.
Despite the spring release of several new songs and an American romantic comedy starring her (Love Again), Celine Dion continues to be discreet. Suffering from stiff person syndrome, a rare and disabling neurological disease, Charlemagne’s diva has canceled all her shows until April 2024.