Date: October 31, 2004
Locations: Saint-Denis Theater, Montreal and somewhere in Gaspésie (New Richmond to be more precise)
Known people involved: Guy A. Lepage and Richard Desjardins
Discomfort scale: 8 (especially for Guy A. Lepage and ADISQ, not so much for Richard Desjardins)
The context
During the 2004 ADISQ gala, host Guy A. Lepage could not digest the fact that singer-songwriter Richard Desjardins decided not to appear at the ceremony he was hosting. The Abitibian artist then won no less than three Félix awards.
The course of events
Stay until the end, it ends well, we swear.
During a gala which was going smoothly until then, the interpreter of Madame Brossard seemed irritated by the fact that Richard Desjardins did not show up to receive his Félix. The reason given by the singer for this controversial absence? He was in Gaspésie, between two shows. As he would tell Lepage several years later (we told you it ended well), he only had one day off.
At the time, this reason put the host in a bad mood, and he threw one of the Felixes backstage after trying a joke on the microphone: “Richard, I’m going to take care of this trophy the same way you would take care of it …».
According to our informants, no technician was injured by the projectile.
After practicing his Félix throw, Guy A. expresses himself dryly: “Gaspésie is far away, but I have already returned from Thailand…” Adding, as if that were not enough, “ I don’t have much respect for that.” If he wanted to show his dedication to the ADISQ gala, he above all showed, with his Thai example, that he was rich.
He even adds that the organizers of the gala had offered the performer Good Guy to address the crowd via a “duplex” on video. Then, moralizing, he informs the public that “that wasn’t tempting either…”.
However, we quickly learned over the following days that Desjardins had himself informed ADISQ two months before the ceremony that he would not be able to be present. Worse! It was also he who offered to appear on video at the gala if he won some honors, but it was ADISQ which refused to go there in duplex. Ouch!
Once the whole world was informed of all this, Lepage’s indignation unfortunately turned against him.
The president of ADISQ at the time, a certain Yves-François Blanchet, spoke of the facilitator’s gesture as a misconduct. However, emphasizing, in defense of this same host, that he was not aware that it was ADISQ which had refused to give Desjardins the chance to receive his prize delayed.
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In the media, people then began to assert that the old RBO had perhaps gone too far. The Montreal Journal even headline: Guy A. Lepage in hot water over this saga which reverberated well beyond the gala itself. TVA Nouvelles played it a little bigger by headlined Desjardins, furious!
Some even recall at the time that the singer-songwriter had refused to participate in Everyone is talking about ita big Sunday meeting hosted by Lepage, some time before the gala, and therefore suspect a case of hard feelings at Lepage. But the “beau” of RBO on the other hand denied that this refusal of the singer had caused resentment…
Screenshot Everyone is talking about it
Richard Desjardins at Tout le monde en talks several years later, in 2011
The day after the gala, Desjardins invited Lepage to come to one of his shows in Quebec so that he could present him with his prize. To which Lepage simply responded in the pages of Le Devoir: “If he hasn’t come to take his prices, Purolator exists. It’s not my job, I’m the host of the gala.”
Finally, after a week of media hype, Guy A made his mea culpa. The storm calms down.
What remains today
Following this now famous Félix throw, Guy A. Lepage will no longer host the ADISQ gala. In fact, a few months later, he announced that he was bowing out, while maintaining, however, that his choice had nothing to do with this prank.
Since then, Guy A. Lepage has sometimes spoken about this episode which he regrets.
He even received Richard at Everyone is talking about it in 2011 and the two men returned to the event.
“We lost control… We were misinformed by ADISQ, all I said at that time was what they told us, but hey…” then declared Guy A. Lepage, with a sad face, let’s say it.
Desjardins then confided, 11 years later, that things had at least ended well, since ADISQ, which was “not innocent in this,” had trophies made for the entire Desjardins team. .
He also confirmed that the famous garroché trophy is now safe at home.
You have just read the fifth text in our section The cyberencyclopedia of Quebec showbiz. With this, the Bag of Chips finally presents all the universal knowledge on Quebec stars. You will find, detailed and well ordered, all the great stories of the personalities who left their mark (or not) on Quebec.
