Just for Laughs founder Gilbert Rozon on stand for 2nd day at civil trial

Gilbert Rozon says he regrets giving in to pressure from those who advised him to plead guilty to sexually assaulting a 19-year-old female croupier in 1998 during a party at the Manoir Rouville-Campbell.

When the case became public in the media, “we were plunged into a media hellhole. We were losing tens of thousands of dollars a day. It quickly reached $2 million,” he said Thursday, the second day of his testimony at the Montreal courthouse.

Gilbert Rozon, who is facing a civil lawsuit totaling approximately $14 million by nine women who allege they were sexually assaulted by the former comedy mogul, began his testimony on Monday, which is scheduled to last seven days, but made only a brief appearance to recount his childhood and his beginnings as a producer and manager.

On Thursday, he continued his story, recounting the evolution and growth of his comedy empire, and his lawyers had no choice but to approach this episode by reviewing his life’s timeline.

Family Reunion

Although a guilty plea must be entered without coercion—a question judges routinely ask defendants who plead guilty— Rozon didn’t give the impression that this was the case. “People started telling me I should plead guilty. That this has to stop,” he said, referring to the company’s losses and the media hype surrounding the case.

He recounted attending a family meeting where he was told, “Listen, it’s better to settle for the good of the company.”

“I held a grudge against those who advised me to do that for a long time,” said Rozon, before explaining that he went to court, pleaded guilty, and his lawyer then requested an absolute discharge, which Rozon obtained the following year.

Difficult Marriage

The rest of his testimony, before and after the reference to this incident, which his lawyers did not dwell on for long, focused on the development of his business and his projects.

Rozon also discussed the difficulties in his marriage, marked by an extramarital affair with Véronique Moreau, whom he ultimately left when he and his wife—who had also begun a relationship with another man after their physical separation—decided to resume their life as a couple.

This recovery did not last long. “The next day, I realized we had made a mistake. We were trying to fit a square box into a circle,” he said.

The day began with a short videoconference testimony from French producer Deborah Huet, who spoke from Paris about her 10-year collaboration with Rozon on the show “La France a un incroyable talent,” where the Quebec producer was a judge.

A Long Legal Saga

The lawsuit filed by nine women—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. First granted at first instance in 2018, Rozon had this request dismissed by the Court of Appeal in 2020.

At the same time, 14 women filed complaints with the police, but the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions only accepted that of Annick Charrette. Rozon was acquitted in 2020 on the basis of reasonable doubt.

Tulasne, who acted as spokesperson for Les Courageuses, was the first to file a civil lawsuit against Mr. Rozon in April 2021. The other eight women followed suit, and all the lawsuits were consolidated to lead to the trial that began last December and was repeatedly interrupted due to legal disputes.

So far, 42 witnesses have been heard in the prosecution, including the nine plaintiffs and seven other women, including Julie Snyder, Salomé Corbo, Pénélope McQuade, and Gilbert Rozon’s ex-partner, Véronique Moreau, who all claimed to have also suffered sexual abuse at the hands of the defendant.

Rozon has consistently denied the allegations against him.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews