Former porn star becomes face of Champagne house, prompts lawsuit from founder’s descendant
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Clara Morgane, a television host, singer, and former adult actress, has partnered with Charles de Cazanove to create a sparking rosé. (Jey Olivier)
Sales of Charles de Cazanove's newest Champagne are "doing well" despite one of the founder's descendants going ballistic over the bubby's new association with a former French porn star.
Count Loïc Chiroussot de Bigault de Cazanove, a French aristocrat whose family used to own the Charles de Cazanove Champagne brand, told Europe 1 Radio that his “ancestors would be turning in their graves” if they knew that Charles de Cazanove had partnered with Clara Morgane, a television host and singer who previously starred in adult films, The Times of London reported.
The family of the man who filed the lawsuit no longer owns the brand, but he says he's still "shocked" by the company's association with Morgane, and calls the partnership "scandalous." (Reuters)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The count is suing the Champagne house to prevent his family’s name from being associated with Morgane’s.
A representative for Charles de Cazanove told Fox News that the company is expecting a ruling on Jan. 9.
According to the company’s website, Count Loïc Chiroussot de Bigault de Cazanove’s great-great grandfather — Charles Gabriel de Cazanove — founded the brand in 1811. The brand was then sold to Martini & Rossi in the late 1950s and was later owned by the Moet-Hennessey group for a brief time in the ‘80s.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A representative for the company says sales of Morgane's Champagne are "doing well" despite the lawsuit. (Denis Gagnebourg)
The brand then passed on to a company called SA Magenta Epernay before eventually ending in the hands of Champagne GH Martel, which currently owns it.
The Champagne brand announced its partnership with Morgane last year, and releasing a sparking rosé bearing her name in Nov. 2017.
“To help design its new Cuvée Brut Rosé, Champagne Charles de Cazanove has called in a celebrity who best conveys the idea of sensuality, generosity, pleasure and elegance … indeed, an evocation of the House style,” wrote the company in a statement.
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Count Loïc Chiroussot de Bigault de Cazanove — despite his family no longer owning the brand — says he’s “shocked” and calls the partnership “simply scandalous.”
“How could anyone associate the name of my illustrious family to that of Clara Morgane?” he said in an interview with Europe 1 Radio. “It’s inconceivable.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Morgane, meanwhile, has responded directly to the controversy via an Instagram post she shared on Dec. 27.
“This gentleman … should have asked the question of the will of his ancestors before the sale of their name,” wrote Morgane, according to a translation. She further stated that she was proud to be associated with the Champagne house.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Morgane and Charles de Cazanove’s sparking rosé retails for 50 euro online. A representative for the company said the variety is “doing well” despite the lawsuit.