Psy imposter fools celebrities at Cannes Film Festival

A man from rural France impersonated South Korean "Gangnam Style" entertainer Psy at the Cannes Film Festival, eating, drinking and partying with the stars in Cannes for two days, press reports said yesterday.

Psy "was spotted all over town, attending festival parties and events and posing for photos with fest goers and other celebrities," The Hollywood Reporter said. "But it turns out that the man was not Psy at all, but rather an imposter using his name and fame to get access to the festival."

The double was dressed exactly like Psy, with his trademark jackets and round sunglasses. He spent a day at the top-ranked Martinez beach restaurant and partied at night at the A-listers' Carlton hotel.

Those who fell victim included Skyfall actress Naomie Harris, who tweeted an image of herself posing with him at a party thrown by luxury jewellers Chopard.

One report from Cannes said he was "scamming" for free drinks at a beach club. According to the New York Post, the unnamed faker even hired three security guards with earpieces to accompany him. The charade reportedly went on for two days before the real Psy tweeted: "Seems like there's another ME at cannes ... say Hi to him." Psy then uploaded a photo of the imposter, adding, "Here the picture (sic) of fake Psy in Cannes spotted by Scooter Braun!!... Real Psy in Singapore (sic)."

Braun, Psy's manager, had spotted the fake on Twitter.

According to La Montagne, a daily newspaper in France's remote Auvergne region, the trickster was a 34-year-old Psy lookalike from Clermont-Ferrand called Denis Carre. Carre, born in the small town of Blanzat, said he got hooked on Psy-chology last September when he was in a club in Dublin with his girlfriend, La Montagne reported.

"A crowd of people gathered around me, and the situation got totally out of control. We were only able to get out with the help of the bouncers. Then it happened again and again, to the point that the resemblance (with Psy) was causing problems in my private life," he said.