Star on social networks, Josiane Pichet is a character created from scratch by an Internet user from Seine-et-Marne. He confides in Le Parisien about this unexpected success.
Since April 2024, a certain Josiane Pichet has emerged on the internet. First on Facebook and Instagram, then later on Tiktok, she introduced herself as “forest dance teacher”.
But all this is false: Josiane Pichet does not exist. It is the fruit of the overflowing imagination of Julien Kehl, a father from Seine-et-Marne whom Le Parisien met.
However, the woman we see in the videos really exists. This is Ivana Jungova, a Czech with 20,000 subscribers on Instagram.
It all started on April 27, when he used his account to make the fictional character Josiane Pichet appear for the first time. Julien Kehl only has 1,000 subscribers.
Its creator speaks of a “wave of love”
The success was immediate, and the first video featuring it attracted crowds and exceeded 3.8 million views. A craze that is spreading to many other social networks, including Tiktok, which saw a Josiane Pichet account created, without Julien Kehl being at the origin. Very quickly, the character became viral, even to the point of being remixed by DJ Peyruis: “Since the remix, everyone got into it. We entered into a delirium that I no longer understand!”
For the voice, nothing could be simpler: it uses artificial intelligence and uses the voice tone of former MP Christine Boutin.
As for the Czech dancer, he uses her because he sees “a girl who looks like an accountant dealing with burn-out,” confides this corporate social worker.
He explains that he regrets that in the media, some have pointed out identity theft: “It saddened me because I never wanted to pass her off as a real person.” He also recalls that embezzlement is “as old as time”.
Julien Kehl assumes not to credit the accounts he misappropriates “so as not to make them scapegoats” and to avoid insults. He nevertheless assures him, Josiane Pichet “gets waves of love from the French”, whereas according to him, the real Czech woman “receives insults from her compatriots.”
It should nevertheless be noted that the model used is aware of Julien Kehl’s videos: “I take these re-shares and these modifications with humor,” explained Ivana Jungova on social networks.
Related News :