Jean-Yves Le Fur is dead, and it was through the voice of his ex-wife, Maïwenn, that the news spread. The French director published the announcement on her Instagram account on April 2, beginning by calling the deceased “the love of her life”. She then recalled that he was also the father of their son Diego and the stepfather of her daughter Shanna, born in 1993 from her union with Luc Besson. He “left Sunday morning in my arms and those of our son, under the protection of Frédérick, his big brother, and Jacky, his lifelong friend,” she said. She concluded the announcement by saying: “We are all devastated.” According to
AFP
, the 59-year-old businessman died of “illness” on Sunday morning at the American hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine.
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Maïwenn and Jean-Yves Le Fur had a dazzling and passionate love story. They married in December 2002, less than seven months after their first date. Maïwenn was only 26 years old but was already the mother of Shanna. On July 7, 2003, again 7 months later, they welcomed their first child, a boy named Diego. They finally divorced a year later, in 2004. From this short and intense romance a film was also born,
Mon Roi,
released in 2015. If she never specified it herself, it is whispered that the filmmaker would have largely inspired by his relationship with Jean-Yves Le Fur to make this film. She tells the love story between a woman (Emmanuelle Bercot) and a narcissistic pervert (Vincent Cassel). A story where love plunges its heroine into addiction on the verge of madness.
A businessman of many hats
Producer for TF1 and Canal+, Jean-Yves Le Fur notably produced documentary series on the
supermodels
of his generation, such as Carla Bruni, Naomi Campbell and Karen Mulder. A multi-faceted businessman, he is also at the origin of editorial projects such as the
Numéro
magazine , which he founded in 1998 with the editor Élisabeth Djian, or even
DS Magazine
, a year earlier, which earned its stripes by dealing with social issues, but especially the overhaul of the legendary men's magazine
Lui
, relaunched with Frédéric Beigbeder in 2013 and closed again in 2020.
Jean-Yves Le Fur rubbed shoulders with both All-Hollywood and All-Paris, which allowed him to be the best man at the wedding of the model Kate Moss, during her nuptials with Jamie Hince, in 2011. Also known for his romantic relationships, before Maïwenn, he would have shared the life of Princess Stéphanie of Monaco, the Belgian actress Marie Gillain and the Dutch model Karen Mulder. In September 2013, he also married Polish model Małgosia Bela, from whom he has since divorced.