Trial of presenter Stéphane Plaza postponed until January 9 – 08/28/2024 at 6:51 p.m.

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Star TV host and real estate agent Stéphane Plaza poses for AFP in Paris on May 21, 20215 (AFP / Joël SAGET)

The trial of TV presenter and real estate agent Stéphane Plaza, who was due to appear before the Paris judicial court on Wednesday for violence against two former partners, has finally been postponed until January 9 after hours of procedural examinations.

Stéphane Plaza, 54, did not appear at the hearing, unlike the two plaintiffs, due, according to his lawyers, to “psychological fragility”.

The court ordered Mr. Plaza to attend the remand hearing and requested a second psychiatric assessment to evaluate his health. The court-appointed expert is due to report on December 18.

According to a medical certificate, cited at the hearing and dated August 22, the presenter suffers from “massive anxiety, dark thoughts and sleep disorders”. According to the practitioner who examined him, “hospitalization in a protected environment would be a favorable option”.

From the start of the hearing, Mr Plaza’s counsel, Hélène Plumet and Carlo Alberto Brusa, defended two priority questions of constitutionality (QPC), one concerning the conditions in which their client was brought before the court and the other concerning the constitutionality of the concept of total incapacity for work (ITT).

After deliberating for just over two hours, the court decided not to forward these QPCs to the Court of Cassation – which would have meant an indefinite postponement of the trial – considering that they were “lacking in seriousness”.

The lawyers for the two plaintiffs, Benjamin Chouai and Clotilde Lepetit, denounced the “delaying measures” used by the defense to prevent the trial.

“The purpose of these QPCs is that the trial does not take place,” Mr. Chouai protested. “There is nothing serious in these QPCs,” the prosecutor said.

Mr Plumet assured that his client wished to appear but maintained that he had been “weakened” by the “media lynching” to which he had allegedly been subjected.

Mr. Chouai denounced the defendant’s “lack of courage.”

Stéphane Plaza, popularized by his various shows on M6, is being prosecuted for “habitual physical and/or psychological violence by a partner” between August 2018 and April 2022 against one of his former partners, as well as for “habitual psychological violence by a partner” against another woman between December 2021 and September 2022.

A total incapacity for work (ITT) of more than eight days was established for these two women, Amandine B. and Irma Paola R., following this violence.

The presenter, under judicial supervision, denies the accusations made against him.

During his police custody last March, he had “clearly reiterated that he was not violent, had not been and never would be,” his lawyers responded at the time.

He faces ten years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros.

– “Humiliations and threats” –

The accusations against Stéphane Plaza began in September 2023, with the publication by Mediapart of the testimonies of three former partners, who denounced “humiliations, threats, verbal violence and, for two of them, physical violence”.

The investigative site also mentioned “problematic behavior” on the part of the host in a professional context.

The prosecution opened an investigation into domestic violence in October 2023, after receiving letters from two of Mr. Plaza’s ex-partners alleging “violence” committed during their relationship.

Initially a real estate agent, Stéphane Plaza became a star of the small screen when M6 propelled him in 2006 to the head of the show “Recherche appartement ou maison” then “Maison à vendre” (2007) and “Chasseurs d’appart'” (2015).

The outgoing boss of M6 Nicolas de Tavernost – he has since joined the media division of CMA-CGM – had assured that the channel would take its “responsibilities” regarding Stéphane Plaza, depending on the court’s decision.

“On a professional level, there is no criticism that could justify his sidelining, that is clear and simple,” Mr. de Tavernost assured in April.

Star TV host and real estate agent Stéphane Plaza during the opening ceremony of the television festival in Monaco, June 21, 2022 (AFP / Valery HACHE)

Star TV host and real estate agent Stéphane Plaza during the opening ceremony of the television festival in Monaco, June 21, 2022 (AFP / Valery HACHE)

One of the French people’s favourite presenters, he is one of M6’s sure bets, bringing together several million viewers with his various programmes.

In January 2022, the M6 ​​group became the majority shareholder of its network of real estate agencies, which has some 660 franchises across France.

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