Jamel Debbouze at 50: Comedy Star’s Lavish Parisian Life and Abandoned Suburban Dream

Jamel Debbouze, who is celebrating his 50th birthday, and his little family reside in a chic apartment on the Île Saint-Louis, surrounded by renowned personalities. The family would be "installed in an apartment located on the 4th floor of a building on the Île Saint-Louis, a neighborhood highly sought after by the wealthiest," revealed Paris Match, in an article dated 2015. Located on the fourth floor of a building on the Île Saint-Louis, the apartment is an architectural gem in the heart of the capital. Renowned personalities such as Claude Sarraute, Edouard Baer, or Daniel Auteuil also reside there.

Originally from Isère, Mélissa Theuriau enjoys living in Paris. Previously, she had taken up residence in the City of Light long before meeting Jamel. "Like any provincial who has dreamed of Paris, I know how to appreciate it. Also because I have a privileged life here...," she confided in an interview with Madame Figaro. The journalist added: "My life is here and, with children reaching adolescence and realizing themselves in sports and the arts, Paris is an opportunity."

After achieving fame, the Franco-Moroccan comedian offered his parents a nice house in Élancourt, the city bordering Trappes, before thinking of realizing his teenage dream, that of acquiring a large plot of land in Trappes and making it a large house, a haven of peace. An old hunting lodge was already erected on this property located in a forest on the border between the commune of Élancourt and that of Maurepas, reported Le Parisien in 2013, specifying that this building is just steps away from the new property of the parents of the teenager Jamel. But the comedian had to abandon this beautiful project, because "it did not comply with urban planning law," Jean-Michel Fourgous, the mayor of Élancourt, had explained at the time.

For years, the house has been left abandoned. The forest has invaded the entire property. Graffiti and tags on the walls. "This house is deteriorating more and more, the roof has been broken," explained a passer-by who is used to walking in this forest to Le Parisien. "It has been looted, there are no more doors or windows. Young people continue to do whatever they want there. The municipal police even advise us not to go there alone." The building has become a refuge for squatters.