Fans and Family Bid Tearful Farewell to ‘French Icon’ Jane Birkin 

Jane Birkin's daughters French-British actress Lou Doillon (R) and French-British actress Charlotte Gainsbourg (L) arrive to attend the funeral ceremony for late British-French singer and actress Jane Birkin at the Saint-Roch church in Paris on July 24, 2023. (AFP)
Jane Birkin's daughters French-British actress Lou Doillon (R) and French-British actress Charlotte Gainsbourg (L) arrive to attend the funeral ceremony for late British-French singer and actress Jane Birkin at the Saint-Roch church in Paris on July 24, 2023. (AFP)
TT

Fans and Family Bid Tearful Farewell to ‘French Icon’ Jane Birkin 

Jane Birkin's daughters French-British actress Lou Doillon (R) and French-British actress Charlotte Gainsbourg (L) arrive to attend the funeral ceremony for late British-French singer and actress Jane Birkin at the Saint-Roch church in Paris on July 24, 2023. (AFP)
Jane Birkin's daughters French-British actress Lou Doillon (R) and French-British actress Charlotte Gainsbourg (L) arrive to attend the funeral ceremony for late British-French singer and actress Jane Birkin at the Saint-Roch church in Paris on July 24, 2023. (AFP)

Hundreds of fans joined film legends and family members to bid farewell to British-born actress and singer Jane Birkin at her funeral in Paris on Monday.

Film star Catherine Deneuve, singer Vanessa Paradis and first Lady Brigitte Macron were among the mourners in the Saint-Roch church.

Outside, tearful fans waving banners marked with "Jane Forever" and "Thank you Jane Birkin" watched the ceremony on a giant screen on the corner of Rue des Pyramides and Rue Saint-Honore.

Birkin's songs, including "La Javanaise", played through speakers across the French capital's first arrondissement.

"I already feel the vacuum she is leaving. This is my mother, our mother," Birkin's daughter, the actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg, told mourners in the church.

"Mother, thank you for not being ordinary and reasonable," her other daughter, the actress and singer Lou Doillon, said during the ceremony.

Other mourners included singers Alain Souchon, Etienne Daho, who composed her last album, and Matthieu Chedid.

President Emmanuel Macron declared Birkin "a French icon" after she her death was announced on July 16 at the age of 76.

Overseas, she was best known overseas for her sensual 1969 hit “Je t’aime ... moi non plus”, performed with Serge Gainsbourg.

In France, where she had lived since the late 1960s, she became a well-known and much-loved figure for her songs, roles in dozens of films and the stance she took on a range of issues including women's rights.



Warner Bros Discovery to Split TV and Streaming Businesses into Two Units

FILE PHOTO: The Warner Bros logo is seen during the annual MIPCOM television program market in Cannes, France, October 14, 2019. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard
FILE PHOTO: The Warner Bros logo is seen during the annual MIPCOM television program market in Cannes, France, October 14, 2019. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard
TT

Warner Bros Discovery to Split TV and Streaming Businesses into Two Units

FILE PHOTO: The Warner Bros logo is seen during the annual MIPCOM television program market in Cannes, France, October 14, 2019. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard
FILE PHOTO: The Warner Bros logo is seen during the annual MIPCOM television program market in Cannes, France, October 14, 2019. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

Warner Bros Discovery said on Thursday it would separate its declining cable TV business from the growing streaming and studio operations, laying the groundwork for a potential sale or spinoff of its traditional TV business as cord-cutting picks pace.

Shares rose about 3% in premarket trading after the company said the new corporate structure will "increase optionality to pursue further value creation opportunities for both divisions". It expects to complete the rollout of the new structure by mid-2025.

Media companies are considering options for their cable TV businesses as a largescale shift by consumers toward streaming has slammed growth in traditional TV, which has long been the industry's cash cow, according to Reuters.

Comcast last month unveiled plans to split most of its NBCUniversal cable networks into a new public company as it looks to unchain its faster-growing studio and theme parks business from the declining traditional TV.

Comedy Central and Nickelodeon owner Paramount Global had also earlier this year also agreed to merge with streaming-era upstart Skydance Media.