Jean-Marie Bigard says he lost his fortune because of taxes and believes he receives a retirement pension that is too low. What is worth checking…
Jean-Marie Bigard doesn’t really like taxes. And he regularly makes it known. Guest of TPMP on C8 last Sunday to promote his show, “I stop the bullshit”, from October 12, the comedian indulged in some confidences about his personal finances. At 70, he spoke in particular about his lifestyle as a retiree and has-been in French show business. “I’m no longer the star of the zoo, but people still stop in front of my cage,” he laughed with a rather pronounced touch of melancholy: “People thank me for existing, even if now I don’t I’m more than a piece of shit.”
Words that Cyril Hanouna could not leave unanswered. “I love this guy because he’s exceptional […] You’re a huge star, you don’t realize it. You say you’re a piece of shit, but I think you’re crazy,” he said in a declaration of love to his former columnist, not sparing in shocking declarations and controversies. Enough to touch the sentimental Jean -Marie Bigard in the heart, who appeared with tears in her eyes.
The comedian’s declarations on his finances gave rise to a more crude sequence, even if it retained its tearful and even whiny side. During his career, Jean-Marie Bigard claims to have pocketed between 80 and 100 million euros and even estimates to have capped at “100,000 euros per day” during his Zéniths tour in his heyday. “Where did everything go wrong? At Michel Barnier’s!”, he then added, pointing to taxation that he would have “squeezed like a lemon”.
“I have never paid taxes in the islands. My conclusion is that when you pay everything like an honest citizen that I am, in fact you have nothing left,” he lamented. When discussing the amount of his retirement, the comedian regretted that he only received “6,000 bucks per month”, a sum that could have been halved if he had not been an author. “We don’t pay the performers, we only pay the authors. If I hadn’t been an author, I would have been entitled to around 3,000 pension dollars,” he estimated.
Cyril Hanouna probably did not see fit to remind him: the average amount of retirement pension in France barely exceeds 1,500 euros gross per month, according to the 2023 edition of the annual Panorama “Retirees and pensions” published by Drees. And according to the INSEE Tax and Social Income survey, the median standard of living of retirees living in mainland France (excluding nursing homes) amounts to 1,900 euros per month. It is also a little higher than the median standard of living for the entire population, which is 1,840 euros per month.
Internet users remembered it on social networks. “6000 euros, poor guy, he’s going to end up in the soup kitchen,” wrote a user on Twitter. “I don’t know if he realizes how lucky he is. Most people will never have a retirement like this,” comments another.
