Where did the idea that the French worship Jerry Lewis come from?

From articles such as this:

It was those French New Wave critics and filmmakers that revered him.

I think it started in the '70s. Jerry, washed up as a viable movie and TV star, attempted to position himself as a SERIOUS FILMMAKER.

Jerry receiving the Legion d'Honneur.

Back in the 80s when Reagan was president and still hobnobbed with Sinatra but Lewis was left bloated and self-aggrandizing his way through the telethons it got put about (partly as a joke) that “well the French still love Jerry Lewis” because at the time there was still a lot of “The French are WWII Losers” and that way they could tell the truth but also burn Jerry Lewis and the French at the same time. Like “all those losers deserve each other.” The 80s were a weird place.

Cahiers du Cinema.

What r5?

R5, no more drinking and posting. Night-night.

Maybe it's more of a French Canadian thing. My dad lived in Quebec for a bit and he said twice he went to the cinema and they cancelled the movie he wanted to see and played a Jerry Lewis movie instead. And the audience would cheer as if this was even better. He also told me they would be bewildered when he would ask for ice in his drink.

No it’s not FRENCH CANADIAN

French popular comedy is very physical and buffoonish. It descends from Théâtre de boulevard. Lewis slots in perfectly. They would have probably loved Lucy if she had made good films in that character.

French audiences are steeped in farce, slapstick, mistaken identity, and physical absurdity. I can barely get through some of the most popular comedy movies. Jerry Lewis actually elevates that kind of material. So the French must have admired that a foreigner did what they like, and well.

Jerry Lewis’ comedy style fit right in with French Absurdist philosophy. Nothing makes sense so just enjoy the ride.

R5 here…not drunk. Maybe altered in other ways. But that’s how I remember it.

R12 and R13 get it. Jerry Lewis's comedy has that Dada/Surrealism/Alfred Jarry style that the French admire. They have a long tradition of specializing in farce, slapstick, and satire, and they saw that in Lewis's work.

They were wrong!

I still don’t forgive him for refusing to give a kid an autograph in the Picwood Bowl on Pico Blvd., LA. “ I’m not giving them out today .” Bastard

The auteur critics loved the cartoonish depiction of American excess in Frank Tashlin's movies and Jerry Lewis was a beneficiary of it.