I was almost sure that this Fashion Week of the Autumn-Winter 2022-23 haute couture that took place in Paris from 4 to 7 July 2022 would not happen without confusion. Without the Metavers, the new name of Facebook, as usual, find grain to grind. For lack of real scandals, Internet users have found one, as far-fetched as some requests for friendships that are made there: an idyllic presupposition between an Ivorian influencer and a renowned Brazilian footballer. Based on a photo. Amazing.
I just bumped several minutes of some videos in which we see Neymar Jr. Standing next to Emma Lohoues, DJ Arafat’s former girlfriend, converted into an influencer, a status that means nothing. It was not worth it. But voices more indignant than mine did not hear it the same way.
How can you pose with an “escort”, smile on your face, and not be able to hit a ball correctly for an entire season? How can we come to expose ourselves in this way, in the eyes of the world? When we know the links that footballers have with the escorts (several players of the French team have been involved in such a story), we wonder. We also know that footballers and influencers have a not at all crazy history. But at this stage, the question is not how. The answer is that they did. The question at €222 million – Neymar’s salary would be: is there anything in between? Love? Frankly, I don’t care. As long as they are adults, they can do it anywhere they want.
Two words about Neymar Jr. and Emma Lohoues, whom I know a little and appreciate a lot. One, as a player of my heart club, the PSG. The other, as a woman who lives on emoticons, followers. Neymar is a very high-flying player, even though he has had the square foot for some time. Emma Lohoues, a great influencer, stars of several famous brands.
Once, the videos – just a few seconds old – of Emma-Neymar put online, it felt like a bomb. The Metaverse started to boil. It’s as if the Internet users had given themselves the word. Everyone played their part as in a well-rehearsed play. Everyone has their own story. Everyone knows something: false or true. The important thing is to keep the debate going. While the fans of the two stars celebrated the event, the opponents called the pose “naughty”. Each one did what he had to do, each one fulfilled his contract, not forgetting to add his grain of salt. When the eyes of Neymar Jr. shone. When Emma Lohoues’ lips smiled. It was all dissected from top to bottom. But what was the context?
We were at fashion week in Paris. And, the two stars, the faces of the big brands, did nothing but do what thousands of people did: immortalize the moment. Ah! comics! To the truth, these are quite banal revelations, terribly banal. Let us focus on what is visible, palpable. Even if a picture, it is said, is worth more than words.
