It was a time when we were not yet talking about “fake news”. In 1986, Isabelle Adjani was already a star crowned with two Césars. His film, The murderous summer, released two years previously, had five million admissions. Despite the success and recognition, the 31-year-old actress almost lost everything overnight. The reason: a nauseating rumor about his state of health.
At the time, the AIDS epidemic, a still little-known disease, is causing panic almost everywhere. Uncontrolled rumors then claim that the actress also has HIV. Faced with this collective psychosis, Isabelle Adjani has a hard time turning her back on these lies which fuel conversations for months. There is talk of secret hospitalizations, admission to palliative care in a Montpellier hospital… Some even say that the actress died of the disease.
His life changes. At the restaurant, the waiters hide to avoid setting the table. We avoid shaking his hand, some friends even refrain from kissing him. The intensity of these rumors is such that even the world of cinema is starting to turn its back on it. The relationships she had with her colleagues became strained. Isabelle Adjani has become a plague victim.
To put an end to the relentlessness that is ruining her life and sabotaging her career, Isabelle Adjani decides to come out of silence. On January 18, 1987, the star appeared on TF1's 8 p.m. show to refute all his allegations. The sequence will go down in the annals of television.
@ina.fr 1987, a crazy rumor goes around: Isabelle Adjani has AIDS. Faced with the scale of this fake news, the actress comes to the 8 p.m. set to reassure the public. #IsabelleAdjani ♬ original sound – INA
If the rumors will eventually fade thanks to this interview, the star will remain marked by this year 1986, “the most monstrous of his existence”, she will say. Deeply hurt by this rumor taken up by the tabloid press, Isabelle Adjani maintained a complicated relationship with the media, and from then on sought to be more discreet outside of film sets.
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