Former porn star becomes face of champagne house, prompts lawsuit from founder’s descendant

A FORMER French porn star is the new face of a famous champagne brand — and the wealthy family behind the drop is not happy.

Former porn star Clara Morgane is working with champagne brand Charles de Cazanove. Picture: Richard Bord/Getty Images

SALES of Charles de Cazanove’s newest champagne are “doing well” despite one of the founder’s descendants going ballistic over the bubbly’s new association with a former French porn star.

Count Loïc Chiroussot de Bigault de Cazanove, a French aristocrat whose family used to own the Charles de Cazanove Champagne brand, told Europe 1 Radio that his “ancestors would be turning in their graves” if they knew that Charles de Cazanove had partnered with Clara Morgane, a television host and singer who previously starred in adult films, The Times reported.

The count is suing the champagne house to prevent his family’s name being associated with Morgane. A representative for Charles de Cazanove told Fox News that the company is expecting a ruling on January 9.

According to the company’s website, Count Loïc Chiroussot de Bigault de Cazanove’s great-great grandfather — Charles Gabriel de Cazanove — founded the brand in 1811. It was sold to Martini & Rossi in the late 1950s and was later owned by the Moet-Hennessy group for a brief time in the ’80s.

The brand then passed on to a company called SA Magenta Epernay before eventually ending in the hands of Champagne GH Martel, which currently owns it.

The champagne brand announced its partnership with Morgane last year, releasing a sparkling rosé bearing her name in November 2017.

“To help design its new Cuvée Brut Rosé, champagne Charles de Cazanove has called in a celebrity who best conveys the idea of sensuality, generosity, pleasure and elegance … indeed, an evocation of the House style,” wrote the company in a statement.

Count Loïc Chiroussot de Bigault de Cazanove — despite his family no longer owning the brand — says he’s “shocked” and calls the partnership “simply scandalous”.

“How could anyone associate the name of my illustrious family to that of Clara Morgane?” he said in an interview with Europe 1 Radio. “It’s inconceivable.”

Morgane, meanwhile, has responded directly to the controversy via an Instagram post she shared on December 27.

“This gentleman … should have asked the question of the will of his ancestors before the sale of their name,” wrote Morgane, according to a translation. She further stated that she was proud to be associated with the champagne house.

Morgane and Charles de Cazanove’s sparking rosé retails for 50 euro ($77) online. A representative for the company said the variety is “doing well” despite the lawsuit.

This article originally appeared on Fox News and was reproduced with permission.