Joeystarr (also spelled Joey Starr) is a French rapper, producer, and actor, who co-founded the famous French rap band Suprême NTM in 1989 along with Kool Shen. As an actor, he is known for starring in the French films Polisse (2011), 22 Bullets (2010), and All About Actresses (2009).
Wiki/Biography
Joeystarr was born as Didier Morville on Friday, October 27, 1967 (age 54 years; as of 2021), in Saint-Denis, northern suburbs of Paris, France. While growing up in the city of Allende, Saint-Denis, Joeystarr had a problematic childhood as he was raised by an authoritarian, violent, and salacious father. While talking about his childhood, which was full of verbal and physical violence, in a talk show, he said,
My childhood, I was pissed off the b ** to death. You know, I spent a lot of time waiting in a car for the guy to finish putting his cookie in the balloon. “
In 1985, he was thrown out of his family home. Thereafter, for more than a year, he lived in the subways and catacombs in Paris. During that period, Joeystarr was introduced to the hard life, full of drugs and violence. Apart from that, he also developed a love for hip-hop while living on the streets.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 9″
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
On October 28, 2021, on the French TV show ‘C à vous,’ Joeystarr revealed that his promiscuous father, Jean Morville, had fathered several children whom Joeystarr met after growing up. In the talk show, while talking about his half-brother, Carl, he said,
While making music, I met my siblings. If I hadn’t done what I’m doing today, we would all have been scattered. We don’t know not how many we are. I met my big brother, my oldest on an RER platform. A guy said to me: “I know a guy who looks like you …”, and one day, he brought him back to me. Another of my brothers, the same … The list is long, because the guy was in the conquest, you see. He went to put his cookie all over the place, in lots of balloons.”
His father worked as a representative in hydraulic equipment for oil platforms in the North Sea. Joeystarr grew up as half-orphan. After he was separated from this mother, Yvette, at the age of five, for a long time he believed that his mother was dead. To his amazement, he crossed paths with her when he was riding to school on a bus during his teenage. Joeystarr’s autobiographical novel “Le Petit Didier” features the description of their reunion in his mother’s words. She said,
One day when I was walking in the street, I saw him, in a passing bus. Was it him this time, or another time? I started to run and banged on the door. I was shaking like a carcass. The words couldn’t form in my mouth. Without being invited, I went up the steps, and I entered the bus, up to my son.”
Carl is known in hip-hop circles as ‘Lion Scott,’ and he hosts rap battle competitions and concerts as MC. Although the reunion did wasn’t much pleasant as Joeystarr’s mother had to face her child’s misunderstanding. Finally, he got in touch with her mother at the age of 28 when he saw his mother in the front row of a concert of NTM.
Joeystarr with his mother
Wife & Children
He was married to the French director, screenwriter, and editor Leïla Dixmier (also known as Leïla Sy). They made acquaintance in 2004. Together, the couple has two sons, Matisse Morville (born in 2005) and Khalil Morville (born in 2007). Matisse is a professional football player at the AJ Auxerre training center.
Joeystarr and Leïla Dixmier with their children, Matisse and Khalil
In 2015, he had another son named Marcello from his relationship with Irène Rizzoli. 
Joeystarr and Irène Rizzoli
Joeystarr with his son Marcello
Relationships/Affairs
IThe 10-year-long relationship of Joeystarr with actress Béatrice Galle ended in 2004. She fell in love with him after she saw him in Supreme NTM’s debut studio album “Authentik.”
Joeystarr and Béatrice Galle
Soon after his breakup with Béatrice, he started dating Leïla Dixmier. Thereafter, he got into a relationship with Maïwenn Le Besco. Joeystarr and Maïwenn parted ways in 2011.
Joeystarr and Maïwenn
In February 2018, he started dating Karine Le Marchand, a French journalist and television presenter. The speculations of their relationship began when Joeystarr posted a picture with Karine on his Instagram account. Just after three months of dating, Joeystarr and Karine separated.
Joeystarr and Karine Le Marchand
Religion/Religious Views
Joeystarr follows Christianity. In June 2016, he shared a video on his Instagram account in which his son Matisse was baptized when he was twelve; Baptism is a Christian sacrament of admission to the church.
Career
Music
Supreme NTM
In 1989, Joeystarr began his musical journey as a duo with Kool Shen when he established the music group Supreme NTM, which marked the beginning of French hip-hop at the beginning of the 90s. Supreme NTM’s debut studio album “Authentik” was released on June 3, 1991, under the record label Epic Records, owned by Sony Music Entertainment.
Other studio albums released under the record label Epic Records include 1993… J’Appuie Sur La Gâchette (1993), Paris Sous Les Bombes (1995), and Suprême NTM (1998).
Suprême NTM (1998)
After many successful collaborations, the band disbanded in 2001. It was reformed in 2008 with the live album “On Est Encore Là Bercy.”
NTM Le Clash (2000) and Supreme NTM- Anthology (2018) were the compilation albums of their songs.
BOSS
After the group disbanded in 2000, Joeystarr ended up signing in with the BOSS music label, alongside artists like DJ Spank, Naughty J, DJ James, and Terror Seb. Between 1999 and 2004, the artists of BOSS appeared on the weekly radio show ‘Jeudi Soir de Sodomie’ (Thursday Evening of Sodomy). The label and its artists gained massive popularity during that period. In 2002, he released the single ‘Gaz-L’ under the label BOSS.
Gaz-L by Joeystarr
Thereafter, Joey started producing other artists. At BOSS, Joey produced two records in 2006, Iron Sy’s ‘Irony’ and Natty’s ‘Jump Up.’
Solo Albums, Mixtapes, and Singles
In 2006, released his solo album “Gare au Jaguarr,” under the label Jive/Epic, which hit number three on French national music charts that year.
In 2011, he released the solo albums ‘Armageddon’ and ‘Egomaniac,‘ under the label Jive/Epic. In 2006, Joeystarr released the mixtape ‘My Playlist by Joey Starr,’ which trended for a long time. In the following year, he released the ‘L’Anthology Mixtape.’
Acting
Films
In 2000, he made his film debut with the French comedy film ‘Old School’ in which he played the role of Isaac.
In 2009, he made an appearance in the French mockumentary film ‘Le bal des actrices (All About Actresses), which earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at César Awards, France (2010).
Joeystarr in Le bal des actrices
In 2010, he gained popularity after appearing in the French gangster-action film ‘L’Immortel’ (22 Bullets) in which he played the role of Le pistachier. Based on the novel L’Immortel (2007), the film centers around a retired mafia boss Charly Matteï, who, after surviving 22 bullet shots, goes on a revenge spree.
Joeystarr in Le pistachier
He struck stardom with the 2011 French crime drama film ‘Polisse’ in which he played the role of Fred, a hard-edged, bitter yet tender policeman. The film centers on the Child Protection Unit of Paris called Brigade de Protection des Mineurs, where a journalist who is assigned to cover the unit enters into an affair with one of the subjects. The role of Fred earned Joeystarr a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at César Awards, France (2012), Lumiere Awards, France (2012), and CinEuphoria Awards (2013).
Joeystarr in Polisse
Other prominent french films under his belt include Une autre vie (2013), La marque des anges – Miserere (2013), and Colt 45 (2014).
Television
From 2008 to 2010, he played the recurring role of Moktar on the French crime drama series ‘Mafiosa, le clan,’ which premiered on Canal+. The series follows Sandra Paoli who takes over the reign of his mafia uncle named Francois Paoli after his murder. In the 2021 French television mini-series ‘Le remplaçant,’ he played the protagonist ‘Nicolas Valeyre.’ In the show, Nicolas is the new French teacher of the Pierre-et-Marie-Curie high school who is known for his whimsical teaching methods.
In the 2021 French TV series ‘Gloria,’ an adaptation of the British thriller TV series ‘Keeping Faith,’ Joeystarr played one of the main characters, Stan Baldini. The central character, Gloria Meyers, is a lawyer on maternity leave and a mother of three children whose life shatters when her husband David disappears overnight without any explanation.
Joeystarr in Gloria
Others
In October 2021, he authored the autobiographical book “Le Petit Didier” in which he talked about his traumatic childhood.
Joeystarr also runs an online shopping portal that features customized apparel and accessories of his eponymous lifestyle brand. In March 2018, the 50-year-old rapper became the first man to appear on the cover of Playboy magazine.
Joeystarr on the cover of Playboy magazine
Alongside Béatrice Dalle, Joeystarr played the titular role (John Merrick) in the theatrical production ‘Elephant Man,’ which was staged at Théâtre des Folies Bergère in Paris from October 3, 2019, to October 20, 2019. The show chronicles the true-life story of Joseph Merrick, who lived in the Victorian era and is known for the extreme deformity of his body, who was exhibited at a freak shows.
Joeystarr in the theatrical production ‘Elephant Man’ (2019)
In November 2021, while he was being interviewed by Europe 1, he talked about his plans to launch a culinary magazine named ‘Five Starr,’ a biannual publication.
Controversies
- In 2008, Leïla Dixmier accused Joeystarr of domestic violence. According to the testimony given by him at that time, he had hit her in the face, pinned her to the ground, and then spat on her before biting her finger. After the trial at the Paris tribunal de grande instance in February 2009, the rapper was sentenced to three months in prison and a fine of 2,000 euros. Two years later, Joeystarr claimed that it was Leïla Dixmier who started domestic violence. In an interview in 2011, during the promotion of the film Police, he said,
The story I had with the mother of my children, it was she who started to hit me. It doesn’t excuse anything. […] The scar I have there on my neck was made by my first wife. I was at the restaurant, she arrived and she stuck a shard of a bottle in me.”
Previously, in 1999, he was accused of intentional assault on Leïla Dixmier when he hit her in the face.
- In 2009, was taken into custody by the police for attacking five young people coming out of a nightclub in the Bastille, Paris, with an ax. Consequently, the victims filed a complaint against Joey Starr.
- On September 2, 2020, French rapper Booba stirred a controversy when he posted a video featuring Joeystarr manhandling a monkey. Apparently, Joeystarr was found guilty of ill-treatment and illegally possessing a protected species in 2002 for which he paid a fine of 9750 euros ($9,100). During a program recorded on the M6 commercial channel, Joeystarr slapped the caged Barbary ape several times, which sparked a storm of protests by numerous animal rights activists, including the former actress Brigitte Bardot.
Awards, Honours, Achievements
- During L’Année du hip-hop Les trophées (2007), he won an award under the category of “Best concert”
- During L’Année du hip-hop Les trophées (2008), he won an award under the category of “Best rap artist”
- In 2012, he received the Prix Patrick Dewaere, an award annually given to a young and upcoming actor working in the French film industry.
Tattoos
- Cannabis leaf tattooed on his left shoulder
Joeystarr’s cannabis leaf tattoo
- A tribal scorpion tattoo inked on his stomach
Joeystarr’s scorpion tattoo
- Knuckle tattoos
Joeystarr’s finger tattoos
- A tattoo inked on the back of his neck
Joeystarr’s neck tattoo
- A tooth inked on his right hand
Joeystarr’s tooth tattoo
- “MKM” inked on his right shoulder
Joey Starr’s MKM tattoo
- A tattoo inked on his forearm
Joey Starr’s forearm tattoo
- Names of his son tattooed on his chest Matisse, Khalil, and Marcello
Facts/Trivia
- He is also known by the monikers Jaguar Gorgone and Double R.
- His autobiographical book mentions an event from his childhood when his father killed his pet rabbit and made him eat it.
- When NTM started rising to prominence during the 90s, Joeystarr was unable to cash his royalty checks as he lacked a mailing address.
- JoeyStarr tasted his son’s umbilical cord when he was born. While talking about his bizarre eating habits, in an interview, he said,
I like everything, I’m a real foodie. There are very few things that I don’t like (…) I haven’t eaten everything either but, in any case, there is not much something that turns me off. For example, I taste the balls raw to see what it tastes like.”
- During his interview on the radio network ‘Sud Radio,’ Joeystarr revealed that he was fond of cooking.
- Joey Starr is a victim of Stockholm syndrome, a psychological response in which hostages or abuse victims bond with their captors or abusers. On the show ‘C à Vous, la suite’ (2021), the host Anne-Elisabeth Lemoine, while talking about Joey Starr’s abusive father mentioned that despite tolerating his father’s abuse, Joeystarr had mentioned his fondness for his father in his autobiography. She said,
You write: ‘I like this guy, I only have him’”. “Well, it looks like Stockholm syndrome. At no time do you stand up against him, but you do the eel. He forbids you a lot of things but you do them anyway.”
- His ex-girlfriend, Beatrice Dalle, fondly calls him ‘Cafard’ (Cockroach).
- During his childhood, when Joeysatrr still thought that his mother was dead, he received gifts from her on his birthday via a stranger, which offended Joey’s father. While talking about it an interview, he said,
Every October 27, my birthday, she would come to the parking lot with a gift to find someone to give it to me and make me feel something’s going on…And my dad, every time he heard about that, he would go out into the parking lot and beat her up in plain sight.”
- In an interview, he revealed that he used to take opioids, a drug naturally found in the opium poppy plant, with French sailor Florence Arthaud, who died in a collision of two helicopters on the set of the reality TV show ‘Dropped’ on March 9, 2015.
- In 2019, while sharing the incredible view of his hotel room in Dubai via a video on his Instagram account, the rapper accidentally showcased his penis, which was visible in the reflection of a window.
