Surviving Milli Vanilli member, Fab Morvan, acknowledges that he and late partner Rob Pilatus were “seduced” by the promises of fame and gold records before their infamous lip-synching scandal.
Morvan and Pilatus’ rise to stardom in the ’80s and subsequent fall from grace following the reveal that neither of them sang on their best-selling records is recounted in the upcoming Paramount+ documentary “Milli Vanilli.”
“It was very premeditated,” Morvan tells Pvnew of being discovered by German record producer Frank Farian, who pulled off a similar lip-synching stunt years earlier with the band Boney M.
“We had the youth on our side and no experience,” Morvan explains. “They were able to lead us with a little carrot, you know. And of course, the gold records, you know, seduced by the fact that you’re going to live your dreams just to do that, sign that paper.”
Morvan, 57, says that he’s waited a long time to finally be able to tell his and Pilatus’ side of the story.
“It took me 30 years to finally be able to tell my truth,” he shares. “I’m sure Rob, too, is finally happy with the way the story’s been told because people have no idea. They think they thought they knew but they didn’t.”
The French-born performer notes that he and Pilatus, who died of an alcohol and prescription drug overdose in 1998 at the age of 32, were vilified by the media but “it was a full machine” that created the lie.
“We were part of the small link in an engine,” he tells us. “There were staff, there was a lot of people responsible. When you see interviews, the executives, just the lack of remorse to this day.”
The documentary’s director, Luke Korem, was also “shocked” that to this day, people are “not willing to have any type of sympathy for the fallout.”
“[Rob and Fab] were not the ones that profited the most,” Korem tells Pvnew. “They were exploited. And I think and this is something that goes on all the time, and especially today when we’re all about like calling people out in power.”
Milli Vanilli was a hugely successful music act in the late ’80s and churned out monster hits like “Girl You Know It’s True,” “Blame it on the Rain,” and “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You.”
They were on heavy rotation on MTV and won the Grammy for Best New Artist in 1990.
But it all came crashing down in November 1990 when Morvan and Pilatus confirmed the persistent rumors that they had not sung on their bestselling albums and had lip-synched while performing. The duo were forced to return their Grammy.
Their incredible story is recounted in the documentary and includes interviews with record execs, It also documents the sad decline of Pilatus.
Morvan admits that Pilatus had deep-rooted psychological problems before he joined the duo.
“He grew up in an orphanage,” he says. “You take those scars with you, there’s emotional scars. He was adopted, but there was a void that was there. And I felt that from the beginning. I knew he wasn’t right.
“But then the pressure got bigger and the lie got heavier … then you medicate yourself,” he continues. “But he was pretty much made to turn into an addict because of his previous life.”
However, the documentary ends on an optimistic note with Morvan happily living in Amsterdam with his partner and four children.
“We’re able to show that the legacy of Milli Vanilli is not a tragedy,” Korem says. “It’s not a con, it’s actually about reinventing yourself. And I think that people will be pleasantly surprised when they watch the film that you won’t leave [with] heavy hearts.”
“Milli Vanilli” begins streaming on Paramount+ on Oct. 24.
