Press viewing of the documentary I Am: Céline Dion (I Am: Celine Dion), held at the Théâtre Maisonneuve at Place des Arts, in Montreal, on Monday evening, was abruptly interrupted, a few minutes before the end, due to the discomfort of a spectator.
The scene proved somewhat disturbing for the people there. On the screen, a suffering Celine Dion, her face twisted in pain, moaning loudly, lying on the table of a specialist treating her pain, was painful to watch. An unbearable image, brutally exposing the misery with which “our” Céline has had to deal for years due to her illness, stiff person syndrome. Never had the public seen Charlemagne’s diva so fragile, vulnerable, powerless. Like a wounded baby bird.
It was precisely at this moment that voices were raised in the audience demanding help. Requests that were amplified and reiterated for a few seconds.
“Is there a doctor in the room?”, we heard people repeat several times, as amazement spread throughout the Théâtre Maisonneuve.
The projection was quickly stopped and the lights turned back on. Emergency services intervened to free the inconvenienced woman from her seat and remove her from the room.
Questioned on this subject by Hollywood PQ after the event, the Quebec communications team at Prime Video (where the documentary will be released I am: Celine Dion on June 25), Roy & Turner Communications, claimed not to know the exact nature of the woman’s discomfort, who was apparently not one of the many public figures invited to the press meeting.
We were told that she left by ambulance, but that she was fully conscious when she left the scene, accompanied by the person who sat next to her during the viewing.
“She spoke, she was correct. She left as a precaution,” Roy & Turner Communications press officers said.
