The trial for rape and indecent assault of ex-Quebec producer Gilbert Rozon, deposed leader of the Just for Laughs group and former juror of the show “La France a un unbelievable talent”, opened on Tuesday, October 13 at Montreal. The hearing, which takes place before a judge alone, without a jury, was initially postponed due to the Covid-19 epidemic.
Gilbert Rozon, 65, was indicted in December 2018 for acts which allegedly occurred in 1980 and implicating a victim, whose identity has not been revealed. The director of criminal and penal prosecutions (DPCP, the equivalent of the prosecution) of Quebec had not laid charges for thirteen other victim files.
The alleged victim, then 20, was working at a radio station at the time of the alleged crime. She and Gilbert Rozon knew each other.
According to her, the facts occurred after a night at a nightclub where Gilbert Rozon had invited her. Before bringing her back to her parents, she assures us that he pretended to have to retrieve documents from his secretary’s house, where the facts allegedly took place. “He threw himself at me”, the complainant testified on Tuesday, explaining that the accused tried to kiss her before raping her a few hours later.
Collective action rejected
Gilbert Rozon, who denies all the facts, pleaded not guilty. The founder of the Just for Laughs group was charged with sexual assault in October 2017, which led to his resignation.
“We’ve been waiting for this moment for a very long time and I won’t hide from you that we’re a little anxious about the outcome of this trial, but at the same time that’s what we wanted, we have to he is brought to justice ”Quebec actress Patricia Tulasne, spokesperson for Courageuses, a collective that brings together women presumed victims of the former producer, told the press. According to them, Gilbert Rozon would have done “At least twenty victims over a period of thirty-four years, from 1982 to 2016”, which he firmly refutes.
Launched in the wake of the #metoo movement, the Les Courageuses collective brought a collective action to seek a judgment against Gilbert Rozon for damages. But this action was dismissed by the Quebec Court of Appeal in January.
Three years ago, the impact of this affair, 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.
