Does a video clip show a farmer on a French show called "Face Your Worst Nightmare" being confronted with dozens of singing children dressed like the brother he killed in a drunk driving accident? No, that's not true: The clip actually shows a children's choral tribute to French composer and actor Serge Gainsbourg. "Farmer François Lavigne," along with the show name "Face Your Worst Nightmare," or "Affronter Votre Pire Cauchemar" in French, appears to reference a years-old meme.
The claim appeared in a post made on X by the account @quelquesoit on August 6, 2026. It included a video of a man smoking and wiping tears from his eyes while watching singing children dressed as adults. The caption read:
When French TV show Affronter Votre Pire Cauchemar ('Face Your Worst Nightmare') confronted farmer François Lavigne with 36 singing children dressed as the brother he accidentally killed in a drink-driving accident 10 years prior.
This is what a still from the video looked like at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @quelquesoit on X.)
A reverse image search (archived here) on Google Images of the still revealed that the image was from a 1988 televised tribute to Gainsbourg by the French children's choir Petits Chanteurs d'Asnières (archived here). The children were dressed as Gainsbourg while singing to the tune of his song "Je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais" (archived here). A video of the tribute, posted by the official YouTube page of Petits Chanteurs d'Asnières, can be found here.
Mention of the "farmer François Lavigne" and "Affronter Votre Pire Cauchemar" in the claim appears to reference an earlier instance of an identical claim, posted in 2021. A post made on X on September 29, 2021, by the user @TreborRhurbarb, included the same video of Gainsbourg and the children with the caption:
Wow, genuinely chilling. French TV show Affronter Votre Pire Cauchemar ('Face Your Worst Nightmare') confronts farmer François Lavigne with 36 singing children dressed as the brother he accidentally killed in a drink-driving accident 10 years prior.
In a follow-up post made on October 5, 2024, the same user quoted the original post, saying:
Last night I explained to my beloved wife that I had created a French meme
