A day before sexual misconduct allegations were published, rumors had cost Rozon $30 million

Even before the investigation by Le Devoir and 98.5 FM into Gilbert Rozon’s allegations of sexual misconduct was published on Oct. 19, 2017, rumors surrounding these upcoming revelations had caused a capital outflow of approximately $30 million between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. the previous day, Oct. 18.

He was first questioned in the case of Annick Charette, the only complainant whose case was previously tried in criminal court. Charette claims that Rozon raped her in 1980, but he was acquitted in 2020 on the basis of reasonable doubt. 

On Wednesday, Rozon said Charette initiated a sexual encounter with him. He also claimed to have had the consent of two other complainants, who both allege that he raped them. 

Rozon also denied having any relationship with Guylaine Courcelles, a former Just for Laughs employee who has accused him of sexually assaulting her in 1987, calling an incident she described “pure fabrication.” He has previously also denied the other allegations against him. 

Rozon detailed the “carnage” he said Just for Laughs suffered after Quebec newspaper Le Devoir and radio station 98.5 FM published an investigation of the allegations. 

He described the atmosphere at Just for Laughs in the hours leading up to the article’s publication as “cataclysmic.” 

“The company, which was in very good shape, is about to implode,” he said, as governments froze subsidies and sponsors followed suit in response to what were still just rumours.

Québecor also informed him of the severance of their business ties, as the two companies were in the process of concluding a major agreement worth $18 to $20 million per year over five years for broadcasting rights and other related activities. It’s not impossible that Québecor CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau will be called to testify, but this matter has not yet been resolved.

“There was already a bonfire and I was already being burned,” Rozon said.

When he read the article, published around 2:00 a.m. on the 19th, he understood that they were going to “play on numbers” — the investigation reported nine victims of harassment or sexual assault — that there would be discussions of money being demanded from him, and that the allegations would be brought out and linked to the fact that he had pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a young female croupier during a party at the Manoir Rouville-Campbell nearly 20 years earlier, in 1998.

Rozon claims he could have gone bankrupt at that moment, with a sudden loss of $30 million for the company in a matter of hours, but “I would rather die personally than have the company die.”

He therefore had to resign immediately, prepare a statement for publication on social media, and quickly began looking for a buyer.

“You have to hold on until the sale,” he recounted. He also resigned from his positions as Celebration Commissioner for Montreal’s 375th anniversary and Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal.

“It was carnage around me,” Gilbert Rozon recalled, as comedians disassociated themselves from the Just for Laughs Festival to create their own parallel event. He said his sons fell into depression, as did several of his colleagues, and that his mother died within a few months. 

With denunciations coming from both internal and external sources, and comedians disassociating themselves from the Just for Laughs Festival to create their own parallel event, “it was a bloodbath around me,” Rozon recalled. His sons fell into depression, as did several of his coworkers; “my mother died from it within a few months.”

Ecstasy consumption

Rozon’s testimony began with a reflection on his lifestyle. Although he mentioned a disciplined approach to exercise and diet, he admitted to regularly taking microdoses of ecstasy during periods of intense activity to “help him function.”

His lawyer then returned to the Manoir Rouville-Campbell case. Rozon once again claimed to have been reluctantly persuaded to plead guilty by his family. His version of events differs from the facts admitted in court at the time.

According to him, after flirting with the young dealer, she agreed to follow him to his room, sat on the bed, and he knelt in front of her to caress her legs. He claimed to have probably caressed her back and “perhaps touched her breasts,” but denied putting his hand under her blouse. The young woman, he maintained, was uncomfortable and left, and Rozon attributed this discomfort to the fact that she possibly feared being lectured by her employer.

Rozon subsequently obtained an absolute discharge in this case.

His testimony continued Wednesday afternoon.

A long legal lourney

The former comedy mogul is being sued for approximately $14 million in civil proceedings by nine women who accuse him of sexually assaulting them.

The lawsuit, filed by Patricia Tulasne, Lyne Charlebois, Anne-Marie Charrette, Annick Charrette, Sophie Moreau, Danie Frenette, Guylaine Courcelles, Mary Sicari, and Martine Roy, follows a 2017 application for authorization of a class action against the businessman by a group of women nicknamed Les Courageuses.

Initially granted at first instance in 2018, Rozon had this application dismissed by the Court of Appeal in 2020.

Meanwhile, 14 women filed complaints with the police, but the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions only accepted Charrette’s complaint.

Rozon was acquitted in 2020 on the basis of reasonable doubt. Tulasne, who acted as spokesperson for the Courageuses, was the first to file a civil lawsuit against.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews