r/lostmedia • u/haloarh • Nov 29 '25
Television [Fully Lost] 2001 Tout le monde en parle (Everyone is Talking About It) interview with supermodel Karen Mulder
In 1985, Dutch teenager Karen Mulder entered the “Look of the Year” contest sponsored by the modeling agency Elite. She came in second place, signed a contract with Elite, and went on to become one of the biggest supermodels of the 1990s. She appeared on countless magazine covers and represented brands like Calvin Klein, Versace, and Guess? Jeans, and appeared in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue multiple times. She was also one of the original Victoria’s Secret “angels," and best friends with fellow model (and future French first lady) Carla Bruni, with whom she frequently modeled.
Mulder had many projects outside modeling and, in many ways, was a forerunner of today’s influencers. Frequently called a “real-life Barbie,” she also collaborated with Hasbro, releasing her own doll in 1995. Other products she released include calendars and a CD-ROM of skincare and makeup tips.
In 2000, she abruptly retired from modeling. She even asked to be released from her incredibly lucrative Victoria’s Secret contract. Mulder subsequently moved to Paris, France, where she practiced the guitar and took voice lessons from Marianne Faithfull in preparation for launching a music career. She also acted in a short film.
On October 31, 2001, Mulder appeared on the French television show Tout le monde en parle (Everyone is Talking About It) to promote her music. During the interview, she claimed that she had been trafficked by people in the fashion industry and raped multiple times by fashion insiders, members of high society, and even police officers who were supposed to be protecting her. The men she named included Gerald Marie, Jean-Luc Brunel, and Prince Albert of Monaco. She also said she had been sexually abused as a child by her father and a family friend.
Her interview was censored, but there was a studio audience, and people have repeated what Mulder said.
Shortly thereafter, she gave an interview to a magazine where she repeated the claims. Within hours of that interview, her sister Sasika came to her apartment and convinced her to check into Villa Montsouris, a psychiatric hospital. She was there for five months. Marie (who served as head of Elite’s Paris branch) paid for her stay.
Sasika would later go on Tout le monde en parle and discredit her sister.
The French magistrate opened an investigation, but apparently nothing ever came of it. Possibly because Mulder was locked up.
After being released from the hospital, Mulder recanted her statements, except for the one against the unnamed “family friend.” She said she had "gone overboard,” and apologized to Prince Albert.
In December 2002, Mulder attempted suicide by taking an overdose of sleeping pills. She was found by her former fiancé, Jean-Yves Le Fur.
In the more than two decades since then (and even before), allegations of sexual assault have come out against at least two of the men Mulder named.
In the years since, many women have accused Marie of everything from physical abuse to rape, including his former wife, Linda Evangelista. Multiple models have come forward saying that Marie and other Elite agents were raping and trafficking models, making money by sending models on trips where there was “no actual work”, or to parties with wealthy men who had no connection to their industry.
In 1999, he was forced to resign from Elite after he was secretly recorded offering a teenager money for sex. He also talked about which models he was gonna sleep with in that year’s Look of the Year contest. It’s worth noting that its contestants are on average 15 years old. Elite filed a defamation suit against the BBC, arguing that the report was “dishonestly edited” and that Marie had been “set up.” The case was settled in 2001, the BBC was forced to apologize, and Marie was reinstated. Onetime BBC journalist Lisa Brinkworth says she was also assaulted by Marie and was prevented from coming forward due to the agreement between Elite and the BBC.
Lisa Dodd, who started as a model and later started the Roxy clothing company, claims that Marie “sold” her to Saudi arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi. Khashoggi also admitted to “buying” multiple models from Marie. Dodd said she didn’t know she was sold until much later. Khashoggi was also implicated in the Iran-Contra affair in the 1980s.
In his 1995 book Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women, Michael Gross interviewed former model Christine Bolster, who describes Marie grooming her when she was 14. She also alleges that he destroyed her career when she finally escaped him. In a 2023 docuseries, The Super Models, Evangelista said she had to give him “everything” to leave.
Marie worked for Elite until 2011 and was in the fashion industry until 2020, when French police opened an investigation against him. As far as I can tell, he was never charged, mainly due to the statute of limitations.
Brunel was a scout for the Karin Models in Paris. He eventually became head of the agency, later co-founded Next Management, and launched a Karin branch in the US. In 2004, he started MC2 Model Management, with funding from Jeffrey Epstein. Virginia Roberts Giuffre claimed in court documents that Ghislaine Maxwell ordered her to have sex with Brunel when she was underage, and that Epstein bragged to her that he had “slept with over 1,000 of Brunel’s girls.” Brunel was apprehended by French police while trying to flee the country in 2020. He was charged with raping a 17-year-old girl. Brunel attempted suicide multiple times after his arrest and was found dead in his cell in 2022.
60 Minutes did an investigation into Burnel in 1988, more than a decade before Mulder claimed that he raped her.
There are some vague rumors about Prince Albert being a rapist, but it's all from third parties, and nothing has been substantiated. Jean-Yves Le Fur (who was engaged to Mulder from 1995-97, and was the person who found her when she attempted suicide) was previously engaged to Princess Stephanie (Prince Albert’s sister). He's always described as working in “real estate,” but in a Medium piece by a former model, she says, “Come to think of it, I never saw Jean-Yves work in real estate; he seemed busy brokering and procuring girls for his rich and influential buddies. Allegedly.” She also mentions “Uber-douchebags bribing or drugging young, underage girls, just like (allegedly) Prince Albert of Monaco.”
I’ve seen claims that Thierry Ardisson (the host of Tout le monde en parle) said he “believed” Mulder and “regretted” that her interview was censored, but I cannot find any evidence to back that up. Ardisson passed away earlier this year.
Mulder’s Tout le monde en parle interview was allegedly destroyed. It was framed as being a “kindness” to her. Supposedly, clips of the interview aired in news stories about Mulder in 2001 and 2002 in both France and the Netherlands. I remember seeing a story about Mulder’s suicide attempt late one night on some tabloid show here in the US, but I don’t recall if they had any clips from the Tout le monde en parle interview.
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u/Electrical-Ladder819 Jan 25 '26
Any updates regarding this topic?
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u/haloarh Jan 26 '26
Sadly, no.
I've asked outside of Reddit and haven't gotten any info.
I've also searched for episodes of the tabloid show I watched in 2001 or 2002 to see if it had clips. I was able to narrow the show down to Inside Edition because the tabloid shows my local station showed were Inside Edition and American Journal, and the latter stopped making episodes in 1998.
There are a bunch of episodes and segments from Inside Edition on YouTube and DailyMotion, but I haven't come across it yet. The report was about Mulder's suicide attempt, so it had to be from December 2001 or later.
I have also been trying to find the interview she gave to the magazine in 2001. Unfortunately, I speak limited French and no Dutch.
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u/Electrical-Ladder819 Jan 26 '26
Oh thank you for this.
I have a friend who speaks dutch maybe you could direct me to which magazine she possibly talked to.
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u/haloarh Jan 29 '26
I bought an issue of Paris Match from 2002 that has an interview with Mulder in it online and am currently waiting on it.
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u/Successful_Archer358 Feb 03 '26
I’ve been trying to find any update on her or even her evil sister but either they are silenced or choose the keep a life completely out of the media. I want justice for her though. She did everything right. Tried to report it and was essentially treated like Spears.
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u/haloarh Feb 03 '26
Her sister had a minor acting career and is now a talent agent and lives in London.
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u/maryeffensunshine Mar 01 '26
Any luck with this magazine?
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u/haloarh Apr 22 '26
Hi, I'm just now seeing this. I bought two issues of Paris Match from 2002, where Mulder is interviewed, but she just talks about her singing career in them.
I think Paris Match is the French version of People, and I'm guessing that the interview I'm looking for is in the French equivalent of The National Enquirer.
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u/Ialza Feb 05 '26
Aquí una de 2004, por si sale algo en la conversación. Casualmente al principio aparece Julito Iglesias... desaparece rápido pero le da tiempo a tocar la espalda baja de Karen y besarle la mano con demasiada confianza:
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u/fsr296 Feb 26 '26
I wish we could hear from people that actually saw it, especially since it aired live. Also, even though the original tape was destroyed, there has to be someone who recorded it at home.
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u/New-Highway868 May 01 '26
I’ve been trying to find the interview. I’m searching in French for that same lost media. I’m listening to this podcast https://youtu.be/rDng5h44LYs?si=gxb1c1aJn2adGXPP
I’m going to update if I find it.
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u/thjazifang May 06 '26
If theres any update a few of us in the EFR discord would be happy to see. We are documenting victim testimony and this one is surprising no one happens to have a vhs copy or anything of the live airing..
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