The Most Controversial Things Surrounding Celine Dion's Marriage To Rene Angélil

No one really knows what goes on in someone else's relationship, but the marriage between Celine Dion and Rene Angélil raised its fair share of questions over the years. The couple married in 1994 and were together for an impressive 22 years before Angélil died of cancer in 2016. Dion has remained devoted to Angélil even years after his death, telling People in 2024: "I'm still married to Rene. He's still my husband." This level of dedication speaks to how deeply connected Dion must still feel to her late husband. However, in spite of Dion's obvious love for Angélil, the couple's life together was marked by controversy from the start, with people suspicious about the true nature of their relationship. 

For example, their union's murky beginnings have spawned grooming accusations, especially due to the age difference between Angélil and Dion. It was hard for many people to believe that someone as young as Dion could feel a genuine connection to the more experienced Angélil. Later, multiple lawsuits showed the public a new, unexpected view of their lives. Even now, thirty years after their elegant Montreal wedding, we're still fascinated by the unusual details surrounding this seemingly unlikely pair. 

Although large age gap relationships are commonplace in the entertainment industry, Celine Dion and Rene Angélil's relationship sparked controversy because of how young Dion was when they met: she was 12 years old, compared to Angélil's 38 years. Both maintained that romance bloomed years later, but, the timeline of when their professional relationship became something more is difficult to nail down. For example, Angélil told CNN he initiated their first kiss in 1988. Dion, who was born in 1968, would have been 19 or 20 at the time. However, when asked exactly when they fell in love, Angélil answered: "I got divorced when she was about 17 ... and we were always together." This suggests that their romantic feelings may have developed when Dion was still underage. For her part, Dion confessed: "I was in love a long time before then." 

These blurred lines have led many to believe that Angélil groomed Dion. For instance, internet personality Sloan Hooks posted a YouTube video explaining that, among other things, Angélil's choice to mortgage his home to fund Dion's first album was very questionable. Sloan said: "I could not imagine if my husband put our house at risk for a twelve-year-old's music career." In 2019, comedian Katherine Ryan also addressed the controversial connection in her Netflix special, "Glitter Room," saying: "She was 12, and the whole world collectively decided to let that one slide."

Rene Angélil was clearly a friend to the Dion family, but Celine Dion's mother, Thérèse Tanguay Dion, still didn't consider him a great match for her daughter. Despite Celine's obvious affection for the man who became her husband, Thérèse tried to dissuade her from pursuing the relationship. In 2013, Celine told Access Hollywood: "I have to say that for my mom, he was not the prince charming — the ideal prince charming. It was very difficult." 

Given the fact that Angélil was 44 when Dion turned 18, it's easy to assume that his age was a deal breaker for the Dion family matriarch. However, as Celine explained, her mother's misgivings were just as deeply fueled by Angélil's marital history. When Celine and he went public with their romance, Angélil was already a twice-divorced father of three. We think most parents would struggle with the idea of their teenager dating someone with so much more experience!

According to Celine, she found Thérèse's pessimism frustrating at the time. Still, the singer did admit that, as a mother herself, she now understands her mother's opposition to the relationship: "If I reversed roles — when I had my first son, RC, if I think of him and he comes [to me] with this lady who has kids and she's 45 and she thinks she knows best ... I don't think I'll be able to do it."

It's impossible to deny the huge impact Rene Angélil had on Celine Dion's rise to stardom. After all, the singer became a global sensation under Angélil's tutelage, and her fame has endured over several decades. Nevertheless, there's a fine line between guiding someone's career and trying to run their life — and Angélil was accused of the latter by some of Dion's fans. It was rare to see young Dion without her loyal husband by her side, and, from the outside, it appeared that the manager was trying to dictate his biggest star's every move. 

Angélil addressed the rumors about his controlling nature in a CTV News interview: "People that know us, that are around us, they know exactly what's happening ... I'm not a control freak." However, there were several instances in Dion's career when Angélil was clearly pulling the strings — even if the singer wasn't quite on board. Most notably, Dion told Entertainment Tonight that she wasn't initially interested in recording "My Heart Will Go On." In the end, it was Angélil who insisted she record a demo of the song. According to Dion: "He talks to the writer and says, 'Let's try to make a little demo,' and I sang the song once, and they built the orchestra around it." Although recording the titanic song (pun intended) was clearly a good career move, we think Dion deserved more say in the birth of one of her biggest hits. 

One of the pitfalls of being a celebrity is facing tabloid-fueled controversies, which Celine Dion and Rene Angélil experienced in 2001. Dion and Angélil filed a defamation suit against a well-known Quebec tabloid for making false claims about their behavior during a stay at Caesars Palace, which also appeared in an American tabloid. The periodical printed a story alleging that Dion and Angélil spent $5,000 a day for poolside privacy at the hotel to engage in some surprising behavior. Court documents quoted the original story: "They blocked off the pool so Celine could whip off her bikini top and soak up the sun, while daring René dropped his trunks to swim completely nude!"

This story didn't fit Dion's public image very well at the time, and Angélil was quick to stand up for his wife. He gave a sworn statement, explaining, "The remarks made in those articles are defamatory and outrageous towards me and towards Celine Dion and hurt our image and reputation." However, the couple later dropped the lawsuit, with Dion saying "I have adjusted my priorities" (via San Francisco Chronicle). This decision came in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City. 

Unfortunately, the tabloid lawsuit wasn't the only Las Vegas-based legal issue the couple faced. In 2002, Rene Angélil made headlines for all the wrong reasons: the manager faced a civil lawsuit regarding an alleged sexual assault from two years prior. Yun Kyeong Sung Kwon claimed Angélil attacked her in a Las Vegas hotel and then pressured her into accepting payment for her silence. Kwon further alleged that Angélil never followed through on two parts of their initial deal: apologizing for the incident and submitting proof that he was HIV-negative. 

Angélil maintained that the incident didn't happen, but nevertheless settled with Kwon when she made her initial claim in 2000. Lawyer Marty Singer explained this somewhat strange choice to CBC News: "Listen, every time you're a celebrity, you always deal with extortionist threats," he said. "Do you fight it? Sometimes, they go away, and in this case, we entered into a confidential settlement agreement." 

It may seem odd to pay a settlement if you're innocent, but Angélil had bigger issues to worry about at the time: his throat cancer diagnosis and Dion's pregnancy. In the end, Angélil and Dion came out on the winning side of this case. Kwon stood trial for trying to extort the couple and was sentenced to prison in 2005. This verdict allowed Dion and Angélil to return to a relatively quiet life.