Comedian and presenter Jasmin Roy is being sued by a man who accuses him of sexual assault and defamation and who has also used his celebrity to harm him.
The lawsuit for damages was filed by Jean-François Robillard on Friday morning at the Montreal courthouse. He is seeking $500,000 from Jasmine Roy, including $350,000 in compensatory damages and $150,000 in punitive damages.
Mr Robillard, a 46-year-old mental health worker, says in his statement that he met Jasmin Roy in a bar in Rouyn-Noranda, Abitibi, around 2001. He was there to offer a performance on stage. During the show, he went to the bar counter where Mr. Robillard was and sucked his ear “until he tongued his earring off,” it reads, gestures that made him “extremely uncomfortable”. »
He pushed him away, he said. Nevertheless, when Mr Roy later went to the toilet, he forced open the door of the stall he was in, blocking the exit. Mr Roy then masturbated in front of him and ejaculated on him without his consent, they say. Mr. Robillard froze and felt paralyzed. Can we read the procedure?
The actor claims not to know his accuser and denies all his allegations. He also accuses Mr Robillard of harassing him for three years.
On Friday, he announced that he would also sue for defamation. The action is already in preparation, he said. In a press release, Mr Roy indicated that legal action would be taken against Mr Robillard, his lawyer and the administrators of the site ‘Dis son nom’, a website dedicated to denouncing alleged attackers, on which Jasmine Roy’s name appeared in 2020.
Dynamics of denunciation movements
Jean-François Robillard explains that he initially tried to minimize the impact of what happened. But in 2020, in the wake of the sexual assault protest movements, he claims to have understood the severity of the assault he suffered and the consequences he had and still has on his life.
He then questions himself deeply: As a social worker, he encourages others to report and claims he feels like a “cheater” because he didn’t do it himself. For this reason, in July 2020, he wrote a post on social networks in which he disclosed the alleged sexual assault.
The following month, Jasmine Roy, a prominent figure in Quebec’s cultural scene, now 57, sent him a formal memo demanding, among other things, $150,000. Mr. Robillard states that he was afraid and then deletes the publication.
He then “plucked up courage,” he wrote, and went to the police station and filed a formal sexual assault report
According to his version, a police investigation was under way and Mr Robillard was received by an investigator and a lawyer from the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) in 2021. They explained to him that Mr Roy had declined such a meeting and that a potential witness had withdrawn. In short, even if his version of the facts were to be believed, there was not enough evidence to bring charges against Jasmine Roy, the lawsuit states.
Mr Robillard published another post about the alleged attack, which he later retracted as well. None of his claims have been proven in court so far.
Request for anonymity
Jasmin Roy is able to act again in 2021. He advises Mr. Robillard that he intends to seek a defamation injunction and damages for himself and the foundation that bears his name. He blames Mr Robillard for the appearance of his name on the Say His Name list and claims that he himself has been the victim of threats from netizens. Before these legal steps, however, he wishes that his name be kept secret and not appear in the proceedings. He is particularly concerned about the impact of the court case on the work of his foundation, which fights against bullying. The actor lost this fight: all courts up to the Supreme Court rejected his request for anonymity.
After this final cancellation last week, Jasmin Roy granted the media numerous interviews. He then made false and defamatory statements to Jean-François Robillard with the aim of harming him, the latter complains in his lawsuit.
Mr. Robillard is seeking compensation for the defamation and sexual assault that had many negative consequences in his life: episodes of drug use “to escape the reality of the assault he suffered,” anxiety, seizure anxiety and insomnia, among other difficulties. It is claimed that he was diagnosed with post-traumatic shock as a result of the attack.
On Friday, Jasmin Roy announced in his press release that he does not want to grant an interview for the time being, but that the facts and truth will be restored in court.
“Since 2021, I have wanted to sue for defamation while protecting my reputation and that of the foundation I created. I remind you that I started this foundation because I was a victim of sexual assault and wanted to contribute to better relational and emotional habits in our society,” he wrote.