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Netflix’s docuseries The Billionaire, The Butler, and The Boyfriend is revisiting the sensational court proceedings about the wealth distribution of the world’s richest woman, Liliane Bettencourt. Released on November 8, 2023, season 1 of the show has three episodes, each with lengths of 48, 52, and 49 minutes respectively.
The Billionaire, The Butler, and The Boyfriend takes up the story mid-way, focusing on the events that came to life after the billionaire’s daughter put up a legal case against the aging lady’s best friend.
The case, which was fought based on recordings presented to the press by the family butler Pascal Bonnefoy, also raised questions about the unethical act of recording private conversations on the butler's part. The lengthy and confusing court proceedings and multiple charges against many elite members of the society led to huge media coverage.
As the Netflix series will unravel over many episodes of The Billionaire, The Butler, and The Boyfriend, the verdict on the case was difficult to achieve. However, butler Bonnefoy was acquitted of the charges in 2017 and lives in an undisclosed place, away from the public eye.
The Billionaire, The Butler, and The Boyfriend: Where is Françoise Bettencourt's butler today?
According to Vanity Fair, Bettencourt’s butler abruptly quit his job in 2010. This also marked the year when he stopped recording the conversations of Mme Bettencourt with her visitors and handed over the recordings to the legal team. The Netflix docuseries The Billionaire, The Butler, and The Boyfriend has been unable to find more answers.
His current situation and any other information are unavailable after more than a decade of his quitting his position. The Billionaire, The Butler, and the Boyfriend tries to look into the involvement of Bonnefoy.
Who is Bonnefoy, and why was he involved?
The famous case involving the owner of the cosmetic and beauty company L’Oreal, as presented in The Billionaire, The Butler, and The Boyfriend, has a significant role of the butler Pascal Bonnefoy.
Bonnefoy, who worked with the Bettencourts since 1989, was a family loyal and sensed something wrong with Lilian’s friend artist Francoise-Marie Banier. He was also suspicious of the intentions of financial adviser Patrice de Maistre.
He recorded conversations that led to the legal proceedings and helped the court convict Banier, de Maistre, and many others of manipulation and fraud. Bonnefoy guessed that Banier disliked him and might be influencing his mistress adversely.
As per Antoine Gillot, Bonnefoy’s lawyer, he wanted to protect his position and himself. He anticipated Banier and de Maistre were trying to get him fired, as The Billionaire, The Butler, and The Boyfriend shows.
As an answer to that, Bonnefoy turned to recordings using a tiny and rudimentary voice recorder. When guests arrived, Liliane often asked Bonnefoy to bring in a tray of goodies. He would place the recorder under a felt covering and put it on the bureau.
How did Bonnefoy's tapes lead to Bettencourt exploiters' convictions?
During the court hearing of Liliane’s daughter Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers' case against Banier, the tape recordings were presented as evidence. The tapes revealed Lilian as a fragile woman with hints of Alzheimer’s disease when she could not remember gifting an island to Banier.
Recorded for one year, multiple conversations with multiple people revealed Bettencourt being exploited and manipulated for money, insurance policies, and expensive gifts. Based on the evidence, besides Banier and de Maistre, multiple people were convicted of financially abusing Bettencourt.
However, Bonnefoy was charged with illegally acquiring the recordings, invading privacy secretly. In 2017, the court acquitted Bonnefoy and five journalists, ending the former's connections to the Bettencourt family. As mentioned earlier, the team of The Billionaire, The Butler, and The Boyfriend could not dig out more about him.
Was François-Marie Banier convicted?
Unfortunately, Banier, who was charged with “abuse of weakness” and sentenced to three years of imprisonment, appealed. His counterappeal was accepted, and he avoided serving in prison.
Moreover, he managed to slip out of paying any damages to the Bettencourt family, which amounts to 158 million euros (about $173 million). He is a free man, an artist living and working in Paris. The 76-year-old artist recently held an exhibition titled Writings and Pictures in Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York.
Know more details about the case and its proceedings in Netflix’s The Billionaire, The Butler, and The Boyfriend, streaming its first season.
