So, I just found out this wild story about Didier Roustan, the French journalist. It turns out, back in the 1980s, during all those crazy child abductions in Cannes, he was out there helping kids! Like, I knew he was a cool guy, but this just makes him even more of a hero.
A guy on Twitter, @sportsczy, wrote a tribute to Didier after he passed away. He was talking about how Didier really stepped up when those kidnappings were happening. It was pretty bad back then, especially in Cannes, and Didier wanted to make sure kids were safe.
What’s even cooler? Didier was born and raised in Cannes himself, so it hit home for him. He found out kids were struggling to get to school safely because of all the violence. So, what did he do? He went and bought a van with his buddy and started giving these kids rides to and from school to keep them safe. Can you imagine? A famous journalist, and he’s out there driving kids around just to make sure they’re okay.
It’s super sad, though, because Didier passed away at 66, and nobody knows why. He kept his personal life really private. Like, no one knows if he had a wife or kids, which is kinda crazy for someone who was in the spotlight for so long.
He was pretty successful, too. Didier wasn’t just a journalist—he also played football (soccer, for us Americans). He used to play for AS Cannes when he was younger, but he got kicked off the team when he was 17 after some fight with his coach.
After that, he got into journalism and joined TF1 as an intern when he was 18. He spent like 13 years there, hosting this football show called Téléfoot, and then he started doing commentary for matches. His last game commentary was for the Copa América in 2024, when Argentina played Canada. He was still working up until the end, doing a blog and podcast called Roustan Foot.
It’s pretty sad that his family hasn’t really come out to say anything after his death. It’s probably because he was super private, maybe because of his dangerous job as a journalist. I mean, he could’ve been protecting them. Who knows?
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