Known for its star-studded red carpets and award-winning film premiers, the Cannes Film Festival hides something far more salacious behind all the glitz and glamour, a new report claims.
The festival is home to a secret escort ring where women’s company is bought and sold over WhatsApp by billionaire Arab, Russian and American businessmen.
Agents are using the messaging service to recruit models for their wealthy employers, sometimes paying as much as €50,000 for one night, according to BILD.
The publication gained access to one of these WhatsApp groups, where adverts are posted, offering women thousands to spend the night with the festival’s wealthy attendees.
According to BILD, one ad read: ‘We are looking for real top models, beautiful girls, amateur models. All nationalities, Latinas preferred.’
Women are paid as much as €50,000 for sex by wealthy businessman at the film festival (File image purely for illustrative purposes)
Another offered ‘top models’ €10,000 euros for a day trip to Monaco while a third was willing to pay ‘only blonde models’ $10,000 a week for a yacht trip
These massive WhatsApp groups ask women to send in photos, alongside their age and weight.
Many requests, often made by wealthy foreign businessmen, are for so-called ‘image jobs’, where models are asked to accompany guests to dinner or high-end parties.
These men allegedly pay for entire groups of women to spend the night at their star-studded gatherings.
Other transactions, however, are known as ‘Image+’ jobs and see the women receive a cash bonus in exchange for having sex with paying festival goers.
These women often meet their hosts for the first time on-site and receive very little information about the dealings in advance, BILD added.
Startlingly, women often have their passports confiscated and are banned from using mobile phones during their trips, in a bid to prevent the identities of these wealthy men leaking to the public.
Some women reported having their passports confiscated upon meeting with men at the festival (File image purely for illustrative purposes)
“This is not just modern prostitution,” an insider revealed.
“This is also about a lot of black money, there are no bills.
‘Young women are often offered 3,000 euros for a dinner, 10,000 euros for a party, and 50,000 euros for a night.’
Last year, an investigation by MailOnline revealed that sex workers from across Europe, known as ‘putes de luxes’ in France, flock to the annual event to sell their bodies in luxury hotels and yachts.
Models, aspiring actresses and some Instagram influencers are invited to parties or to stay on board superyachts, enjoying champagne on tap.
But the unwritten expectation in some cases is that so-called ‘yacht girls’ will have to thank their hosts by having sex with them or other guests.
Unlike the WhatsApp groups where escorts often know how much they will receive in advance, these women are often handed an envelope filled with cash once their visit is over.
One escort, hailing from Slovakia, told MailOnline: ‘You have to be careful because the hotels don’t like it going on, but they cannot stop it. This is the oldest industry in the world and the film business is all about glamour and excitement. Of course, people want to have sex.
Yachts are often used as discreet locations for these deals to take place
‘I charge 1,000 euros an hour, but there is a discount for two hours or more, and the rate for the whole night is 5,000 euros – but in reality, people often only take a few minutes.
‘Then, it is just a question of chatting to them for the rest of the hour if they cannot rise to the occasion again. It doesn’t help that they may be drunk or on drugs, unless it is Viagra and then I am in for a hard time.
‘The money is no problem if they can afford to stay somewhere like Le Majestic. But what they are paying for is discretion. I would never disclose the name of anyone.’
One yacht crew member told MailOnline that the use of these vessels for prostitution has become ‘much more discreet’ in recent years.
He said: ‘I guess nobody wants to be seen openly buying or selling sex. You might want to have beautiful women on your yacht, but you don’t want to be seen as a sleazy old man taking advantage of girls.
‘Another factor is the sanctions against Russia because of the war in Ukraine. It has meant that Russian oligarchs have disappeared from European waters. Those guys knew how to party.
‘The term ‘yacht girl’ also seems to have changed in recent years. I have heard it being used to describe any woman hanging out with a rich man, whether it is on a boat or some place in a resort.’