Netflix’s new fictionalized biopic Class Act tells the story of the rise and fall, the successes and the failures, of Bernard Tapie. Singer, businessman, TV host, politician… Bernard Tapie wore many caps but mostly left his mark on French society for being one of its most controversial public figures.
While the show is based on the life of a real person, its creators, Tristan Séguéla and Olivier Demangel, took care of cautioning viewers before each episode with a warning: "This series is loosely based on a true story. The hero’s journey is based on facts known to the public. The role played by his entourage, and Dominique, their private lives and the dialogue are fictional."
So how much of what viewers see in Class Act is true? Here is everything you need to know about who Bernard Tapie really was and how the Netflix series adapted his story…
NOTE : This article contains spoilers regarding key plot points of the Netflix series Class Act.
Was Bernard Tapie really a singer, businessman, TV host, politician and sports club owner?
The real Bernard Tapie, just like the character played by Laurent Lafitte in Class Act, was a jack-of-all-trades who dived into many business, artistic, and political ventures.
As shown in the Netflix series, he indeed recorded music (in fact not one but several songs, and not only in the 1960s but also in the 1980s and 1990s). He was also the host of several TV shows, including one called Ambitions (renamed Réussite in the Netflix series) and was even an actor in several films and TV series. He even did theatre!
However, it is as a businessman, a politician, and for owing the football club Olympique de Marseille that Tapie was well known in France. Class Act shows some of the real businesses Bernard Tapie built, like Coeur Assistance, and some of the ones that he bought, like Wonder and Adidas.
What was Tapie’s political career?
As seen in the series, Tapie did become Minister of City Affairs under the government of Pierre Bérégovoy during François Mitterand's presidency. What the Netflix series doesn't show, however, is that after being forced to resign due to legal issues, Tapie was asked to return to the Ministry of City Affairs a few months later, in 1992.
In the following years, he remained in politics and was a member of the National Assembly before becoming a European deputy. He only stopped his involvement in politics in 1995 following more legal problems, and not because his wife had an issue with it (as it is depicted in Class Act).
Did Bernard Tapie really go to prison ?
Bernard Tapie had to face Justice many times throughout his life and was even condemned to prison several times, although the only time he was actually incarcerated was following the corruption scandal around the Olympique de Marseille football club. He was accused of fixing the match between his club and minor club Valenciennes and was sentenced in 1995 to two years in prison, including eight months non-suspended and three years of deprivation of his civic rights. He stayed in prison for six months.
After this, Bernard Tapie had several other legal difficulties but did not serve time again. At the time of his death, in 2021, he was still involved in a legal battle.
What happened to Bernard Tapie after he went to prison ?
After 1995, Bernard Tapie was personally bankrupt and therefore unable to pursue business ventures. He was also declared ineligible to run for political office and was banned from football. For several years, he then pursued artistic endeavors, acting in films and theatre for instance.
In 2009, he went back to being a businessman but never made a true comeback to politics.
In 2017, Bernard Tapie announced he was suffering from stomach cancer. He received treatment but the disease spread and on October 3, 2021, Tapie died at home at the age of 78. On October 7, a chapel of rest was installed at the Velodrome stadium of Marseille and around 5000 people came to see his casket to pay their respects.
Does the Tapie family approve of the Netflix series?
Class Act was in the works before Bernard Tapie’s death and he did not approve of it. His wife and children also did not approve of the show and since its release, they have all expressed various degrees of discontentment about it.
Speaking to French radio Europe 1, Dominique Tapie, Bernard’s widow, said that everything depicted in the show regarding their private life is either false or approximate. For one, the show presents Dominique pretty much as Bernard’s right hand in his business affairs, which she never had anything to do with in real life.
Moreover, Class Act featured Bernard Tapie only having two children, named Stéphanie and Victor in the series. In reality, he had four children: two during his first marriage with Michèle Layec, named Nathalie and Stéphane, and two with his second wife Dominique, named Laurent and Sophie.
Is Class Act based on a true story?
Yes, but Class Act is a TV drama adaptation of the life of Bernard Tapie. While the events depicted in the show are based on publicly known facts, many of the situations, especially surrounding his private life, were fictionalized for dramatic purposes.
Where can I watch the Class Act mini-series?
All seven episodes of Class Act are available to stream on Netflix.
