Last such complaint in a little over two months against the founder of the “Just for Laughs” festival. A fourth Canadian is suing the former Quebec humor magnate Gilbert Rozon, whom she accuses of having raped her in 1980, announced Wednesday, June 23, the plaintiff’s lawyers. Annick Charette is claiming 1.3 million Canadian dollars (880,000 euros) from the former producer, according to a request filed at the Montreal courthouse.
Since April, three other Quebeckers, Lyne Charlebois, Patricia Tulasne and Danie Frenette, have also sued the ex-juror of the show “France has an incredible talent” in civil proceedings. Mme Charette had filed a criminal complaint against the Quebec producer, 66, finally acquitted in December in Montreal of the charges of rape and indecent assault for which he faced a prison sentence. Judge Mélanie Hébert then considered that she could not conclude that Mr. Rozon was guilty. “Beyond a reasonable doubt”.
“A grotesque scenario”
In the civil suit file consulted by Agence France-Presse, Mr.me Charette maintains that Mr. Rozon has “Lied” by denying his version of events during the criminal trial and “By inventing from scratch a scenario that reversed the roles”. “A grotesque scenario” in which it is she “Who was the aggressor, and Rozon the victim”, is it written. She lived this episode “Like a second rape and suffered significant harm”. “Since the rape, she has been living with a scar inside of her, and that scar will never go away completely”, can we read in this document.
While spending the night at Mr. Rozon’s home, the complainant claimed that the former humor mogul had woken her up to have sex with her. Although not consenting, not feeling the strength to resist, she finally gave in, she assured. Mr. Rozon, 25 years old at the material time, for his part said that it was Annick Charette who had woken him up to force him to have sex.
Lyne Charlebois, Patricia Tulasne and Danie Frenette participated in the creation of Les Courageuses, a collective of twenty women presumed victims of the former producer between 1982 and 2016. This group had taken a collective action against Gilbert Rozon, rejected by Canadian justice.
Affected by accusations of sexual assault in October 2017, in the midst of the #metoo movement, Gilbert Rozon has since left his post at the head of the Just for Laughs group. The impact of these cases, in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal in the United States, had led the French television channels M6 and C8 to deprogram programs with which Gilbert Rozon was associated.