Star television host and real estate agent Stéphane Plaza will be tried on Thursday before the Paris criminal court for regular violence against two former partners, which he contests.
Stéphane Plaza will be present, assured his lawyers Carlo Alberto Brusa and Hélène Plumet. He should have been tried in August but did not appear at the hearing, due, according to his defense, to “psychological fragilities”.
Ten years in prison and €150,000 fine
A psychiatric assessment ordered by the court has since confirmed that he was fit to stand trial, they stressed, specifying that their client had always “wanted to be present” to defend himself in court.
The 54-year-old real estate agent will be judged for “habitual physical and/or psychological violence by a partner” between 2018 and 2022 on a former partner, Amandine, as well as for “habitual psychological violence by a partner” on another, Paola, between 2021 and 2022.
A total incapacity for work (which defines the severity of the repercussions on health) of more than eight days was established for these two women.
Stéphane Plaza, who faces ten years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros, contests these accusations, to which are added threats denounced by a third ex-partner.
“We are ready to request his release”
“We are ready to prove his total innocence and request his release,” declared Stéphane Plaza’s lawyers, describing their client as “combative, ready to defend himself, to answer the court’s questions.”
Stéphane Plaza will show “his two accusers that building revenge through lies will not lead to any conviction,” added his defense.
According to Me Clotide Lepetit, her client Paola “will go to the hearing with the courage and honesty necessary to confront the harshness and defense methods of Stéphane Plaza”.
“The posture of the defendant Plaza, which consists of presenting himself as a victim of spurned women, is a laughable cliché,” added Benjamin Chouai, Amandine’s counsel, who will also be present.
“Problematic behavior” on set
The accusations against Stéphane Plaza began in September 2023, with the publication by Mediapart of the testimonies of three former partners, who denounced “humiliation, threats, verbal violence and, for two of them, physical violence”.
The investigative journal also mentioned “problematic behavior” on the part of the facilitator in a professional context.
The prosecution opened an investigation into domestic violence shortly after, following the receipt of letters from Mr. Plaza’s two ex-partners.
Filing of complaint against his two accusers
Immediately after the revelations, Stéphane Plaza announced that he had filed a complaint against the two women three months earlier, for harassment and cyberharassment.
This complaint has so far yielded nothing. But another woman and her new companion will be tried in March in Grasse (Alpes-Maritimes), for harassment for her and attempted extortion for him, facts which would have been committed after the Mediapart revelations.
Initially a real estate agent, Stéphane Plaza became a star of the small screen when M6 propelled him in 2006 to the head of the shows “Research apartment or house” and “Maison à vente” (2007), followed by “Chasseurs d’appart’ » (2015).
The collaboration with M6 continues
Since his debut on television, he has been one of the French’s favorite presenters and brings together millions of viewers with his various programs.
In 2022, the M6 group became the majority shareholder of its network of real estate agencies which has some 660 franchises across France.
In the absence of a conviction of the host by the courts, M6 has repeatedly ruled out ending their collaboration. In the fall, however, several media outlets claimed that the channel was working to “liquidate” the Stéphane Plaza shows already in stock.
