Marcius Melhem records a video to criticize the meeting between the Minister for Women, Cida Gonçalves, and actresses who accuse him of sexual harassment Internet reproduction
Marcius Melhem records a video to criticize the meeting between the Minister for Women, Cida Gonçalves, and actresses who accuse him of sexual harassment
Published on 03/31/2023 08:04
Rio Marcius Melhem, former director of TV Globo’s humor department, recorded a video in Stories on Instagram to criticize the invitation made by the Minister for Women, Cida Gonçalves, to actresses who have accused him of sexual harassment. The meeting is scheduled to take place next Tuesday. Melhem says in the video that the initiative finds him guilty and he is not even a defendant.
Dani Calabresa opens up on the harassment of Marcius Melhem: ‘He took the opportunity to play upright’
“I would like to quickly comment on this information that the women of a group of 11 people who are making allegations against me in an interview on the Metropoles portal are traveling to Brasília to meet the Minister for Women, Cida Gonçalves, so that they Women can be presented with a proposal for a legal framework against harassment at work.It is obvious that the minister receives whoever she wants, but I must warn against some absurdities in this situation.Firstly, this government has suffered and fought and warned against prejudice , the relinquishment of the presumption of innocence and the issue of parity of arms. Due process is a rite. I am not even a defendant, there is no criminal case against me, even if it comes to that and I become a defendant, I still will not be guilty ‘Cause there’s a final and unassailable decision, nothing. There’s nothing. There’s a preliminary investigation to see if these allegations make sense. And then the prosecution will decide if I’m a defendant,” he began, without naming names but referring to the Lula government and its relationship with Operation Lava Jato.
According to Melhem, the actresses want to shift the focus from their specific case to the cause. He also claims that they have an interest in the case not being judged soon. According to the former director, the trial was ready to close in August last year, but women who accused him asked for new witnesses to be heard, delaying the trial.
“Rolling out a red carpet for these women legitimizes an unproven allegation. This is a media ploy, a political pressure ploy that wants to expend all the energy that could be expended to get the process going, shut down everything here and go public opinion to create an uproar, a scenario that pressures exerts on the judiciary to find an excuse to accuse me,” he said. “It is the only case where the accused wants to judge and the prosecutor delays the trial. Why? Because the files showed that this should go on file,” he added.
Maricius Melhem believes that creating a framework for discussing workplace harassment is appropriate, but for him, involving the women involved in his case would not be appropriate. “What I’m trying to say is that there’s a clear attempt to shift focus from the case to the cause. It’s a shame that people don’t have access to what’s here in the courts of Rio de Janeiro. But, one day they will,” he said.
Minister Cida Gonçalves’ invitation comes at a time when the case has regained media attention after Melhem’s prosecutors interviewed Metropoles columnist Guilherme Amado. Four women and seven witnesses reinforced the allegations in the interview, stating that Melhem forced French kisses during the scenes, touched the women in the scene with an erect penis, among other “jokes.”
Marcius Melhem was the director of TV Globo’s humor center when he was denounced by Dani Calabresa in 2019 for the channel’s compliance. In 2020, the Rio de Janeiro Women’s Police Station launched a police investigation to investigate the allegations. The former director is also filing a lawsuit for moral damages against Dani Calabresa.