Vitalie Taittinger
Scandal in the finest circles
Vitalie Taittinger
© Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
Not an easy inheritance for Vitalie Taittinger, Boss of the champagne house of the same name: Her father brings the family empire into disrepute. Now she has to act.
September is harvest time in Champagne. For Vitalie Taittinger, 44, president of the champagne house of the same name, and her colleagues, it was the most stressful time of the year. Now, of all times, her family is rocked by a scandal. It concerns the love life of her father Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, 70, patriarch and honorary president of the family business. A former lover claims to have been his slave. The billionaire dragged her to sex clubs in Paris Bottled champagne and forced to sleep with other men.
Vitalie Taittinger: Your father was threatened by his ex-lover
Accusations,which could only become public because Taittinger reported his ex-lover in 2017. Reason: After the separation, she massively persecuted and threatened the entrepreneur, his wife Claire and the children for a long time, as she now admitted in court. The verdict: one year in prison on probation. For Taittinger and his family, it was a success with a bitter aftertaste. After all, the champagne house has a good reputation to lose.
Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger is considered an eccentric patriarch
However, the fact that patriarch Pierre-Emmanuel is considered eccentric and hedonistic and goes too far too often is an image he often flirted with during his time as head of the house. When he handed the company over to his daughter Vitalie at the beginning of 2020, he joked: “From now on I won’t have any more mistresses. My wife will be happy.”
Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger
© Uta Wagner / imago images
Vitalie Taittinger successfully led the champagne company through the pandemic
After winning the case, the businessman now tells the Daily Mail: “I feel sorry for my family, who suffered a lot from all of this.” To this day, his wife Claire and their children stick by him. There is a lot at stake, especially for Vitalie. The mother of four (all children are school age) is considered an excellent crisis manager. When she became president in 2020, she had to steer the family business straight through the pandemic. Today everyone raves about her combination of sensitivity and strength. And the Scandal? Will eventually evaporate like the air bubbles in a champagne flute.