THE CANNES Film Festival is not all glamour, red carpets, champagne, yachts and movie releases.
It has a much grubbier side — and one you won’t see on attention-seeking social media postings of its high-profile visitors.
If they did share all, many celebrities might well land themselves in trouble.
Twelve months after I exposed a number of A- listers for attending premieres with no intention of seeing the movies, and inspired by France’s most famous sleuth, Inspector Clouseau, I can now reveal the festival, which runs until Sunday, is a hotbed of cocaine use.
I sent my reporter BENJY POTTER to ten of the town’s top showbiz venues and found evidence of the drug at six of them — including the pop-up bar owned by CHERYL’s ex-husband JEAN-BERNARD FERNANDEZ-VERSINI.
That’s not a statistic which tour operators will be using in next year’s brochure.
A security source said: “The drug’s use has got out of control in Cannes.
“Everybody is doing it and the police are finding it extremely hard to manage, it’s a nightmare. This year the focus is on security and terrorism, so naturally other areas of crime will be overlooked.”
As A-listers partied into the early hours on Sunday, Benjy headed out, armed with a swabbing kit.
MOST READ IN BIZARRE
He found evidence of the drug in the guest toilets of Jean-Bernard’s bar, Versini at Five Seas Hotel.
He also discovered it had been used in the gent’s at Cannes’ most expensive hotel, the Hotel du Cap.
Benjy found it during the middle of the afternoon, just before it played host to an exclusive Vanity Fair party.
A VIP concierge at another top hotel told us cocaine use was on the rise at the festival, saying: “It is more popular than ever.
“Dealers make over £25,000 a night and are often sold out by day four.
“So if you want drugs, you have to get in quick.”
Across town at the Hotel Martinez, a model who has fronted fashion campaigns for Burberry, Victoria’s Secret, Selfridges and Calvin Klein, was sitting enjoying a drink.
Her face would be instantly familiar to readers of fashion bible Vogue. In the bar’s toilets and unknown to her, we found more evidence of the party drug.
But our findings were not confined to the town’s hotels — we also discovered it at the festival’s top parties.
With Hollywood idols, top models, reality stars and even royalty in attendance, Benjy got positive readings in the toilets as big names partied metres away.
There were similar results in the bathroom at the Grand Hotel and the Radisson Blu.
The local McDonald’s loos even had traces of it.
When we contacted Jean-Bernard’s representatives about our findings, his spokesman said: “Jean-Bernard does not tolerate the possession, use or supply of illegal drugs at any of its pop-up locations.
“Any person found on the premises having used, or being suspected of having used, illegal drugs will be reported to the police.”
Owners of the bars and hotels will state that they cannot police what goes on in their toilets.
When we presented our findings to the local police, they said they were stunned by claims the festival attracted the drug trade.
Yves Daros, head of the municipal police in Cannes, told The Sun: “It’s the first time I’ve heard that.”
1RADISSON BLU
Test: Positive
Date: 21/05/17
THE bar had just closed at midnight when I carried out the test in the toilet. There was a man acting suspiciously and waiting for the cubicle.
2McDONALD’S
Test: Positive
Date: 21/05/17
I HAD to squeeze past a drunk man who had stumbled in. Found evidence of drug use.
3VERSINI, POP-UP BAR AT FIVE SEAS HOTEL
Test: Positive
Date: 21/05/17
HERE I tested the gents’ toilet made available by the hotel hosting the pop-up venture at around half past midnight, when crowds were dying down.
4 GRAND HOTEL
Test: Positive
Date: 21/05/17
IT seemed to be mainly Brits at this location and there was a long queue for the gents’ cubicles.
5HOTEL MARTINEZ
Test: Positive
Date: 21/05/17
I SPOTTED a well-known model sitting at the bar, an example of the type of guests attracted here. Unknown to most of them, the toilet facilities for the bar inside the hotel tested positive for cocaine use.
6 HOTEL DU CAP, ANTIBES
Test: Positive
Date: 18/05/17
JUST a couple of days before the Vanity Fair party on Saturday night, attended by film stars WILL SMITH and JESSICA CHASTAIN, I tested the toilet inside the main hotel and could easily see lumps of cocaine lodged behind the cistern.
Read on for the rest of Dan’s Bizarre column
Naomi’s clothes hangar
IT is supposed to be all about movies but that was the last thing anyone cared about at NAOMI CAMPBELL’s Cannes Film Festival bash.
She was joined by KENDALL JENNER at her Fashion For Relief fundraiser on Sunday, where dresses were top of the agenda.
KATE MOSS, KOURTNEY KARDASHIAN, HEIDI KLUM, BELLA HADID and UMA THURMAN were on the guest list to help raise money for humanitarian causes and disaster relief.
JOURDAN DUNN, LOTTIE MOSS and LEWIS HAMILTON joined them, as well as PRINCESS BEATRICE, fresh from PIPPA MIDDLETON’s wedding on Saturday, and her mum SARAH FERGUSON.
The whole thing was held in the rather unglamorous location of an airport hangar.
At least it made it easy for anyone wanting a swift exit at the end of the night.
Now tatt is a fan, Celine
CELINE DION has found a megafan in rapper DRAKE.
The superstar looked angelic as she performed My Heart Will Go On to celebrate the tune’s 20th anniversary at Sunday night’s Billboard Music Awards.
And Drake – who won a record 13 gongs at the event in Las Vegas – showered his fellow Canadian singer with praise.
He was spotted bowing down to Celine, telling her: “You’re very iconic, we love you. I’m like a year away from a Celine tatt.”
Other big names at the bash included NICKI MINAJ, CAMILA CABELLO and RITA ORA.
Elt’s still standing and sharp as ever
SIR ELTON JOHN reassured fans he’s on the mend at his first public appearance since his stint in intensive care.
The Rocket Man said: “I’m feeling very well,” when quizzed on his health while unveiling a new project with YouTube at Cannes.
However Elton, who was joined by husband DAVID FURNISH, was still delicate.
An onlooker said: “Elton was a bit shaky on his feet getting up to the stage, but he made it.
“He seemed very happy to be at the event and was on top form.” The legend, struck down by a bacterial infection last month, unveiled three videos made by the public for songs Tiny Dancer, Bennie and The Jets and Rocket Man.
During the chat with songwriting partner BERNIE TAUPIN Elt had a dig at MTV stars. He said: “The MTV generation brought a lot of people who were great but also a lot of people who just made videos. A lot of artistry went out of the music.”
His sharp tongue is still working OK then . . .
—CELEBS are lapping up the sounds of DJ NICKIE CARTEL DUKU at Cannes. The music mastermind has been so popular he has already been booked by, among others, COLIN FARRELL to play at a private bash.
Biz meter: at Billboard
COLDPLAY and ZAYN MALIK, right, were the evening’s only British winners, getting the Top Rock Tour and Top New Artist titles respectively – despite missing the ceremony. Heavily pregnant BEYONCE wasn’t there to collect her five awards either, although THE CHAINSMOKERS, who won four, did turn up.
NOAH CYRUS got plenty of laughs as she introduced her older sister MILEY on stage at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to perform her new single, Malibu. Taking a dig at Miley’s tendency to appear on stage barely clothed, Noah said: “For the first time in years with pants on, my big sister Miley Cyrus!”
SPARKS were flying for DRAKE at the ceremony – and not only because he picked up a record 13 awards. He flirted with host VANESSA HUDGENS, above, saying she looked “incredible,” before referring to his ex NICKI MINAJ as “the love of my life.” I wonder what RIHANNA would say.
IMAGINE DRAGONS singer DAN REYNOLDS, right, paid tribute to SOUND- GARDEN’s CHRIS CORNELL after his death last week. Leading a moment’s silence for Chris, he called him “a prolific songwriter, a legendary performer, a singer who had a voice for the ages and a philanthropist.”