“Without deprogramming, we will meet everyone [sic] in front of the Théâtre du casino Barrière on January 25 at 7 p.m. to make the voices of victims of sexual violence heard,” warns this text, signed by a dozen collectives (1).
They criticize the comedian and actor (notably known for “What have we done to the good Lord?”) for his involvement in a rape case. In October 2021, a 23-year-old young woman, who had been dating the fifty-year-old for two months, filed a complaint against him, claiming that he had imposed anal sex on her, supported by medical expertise.
Ary Abittan had been indicted. Then, in 2023, placed under the status of simple assisted witness. A decision that the two investigating judges in charge of the case justified by the absence of “serious or consistent evidence”. While recognizing the “indisputable” post-traumatic stress of the complainant. Last April, the artist finally benefited from a dismissal of the case.
Dismissal and appeal
Dismissal is the abandonment of legal action during the procedure. The Bordeaux Feminist Collages conclude that “Ary Abittan is therefore not exonerated at the end of this affair”. Legally, this reasoning is inaccurate: certainly, the victim has appealed and possible resumption of proceedings is always imaginable. But in the eyes of the law, the actor has always been innocent: the presumption of innocence applies to everyone accused until the moment when he is the subject of a final conviction.
“Without deprogramming, we will meet everyone in front of the Barrière casino on January 25 at 7 p.m.”
But the signatories are not satisfied with this cessation of proceedings. “Would justice only agree to deal with facts when they are filmed, like the trial against Dominique Pélicot? », asks the Feminist Collages. They recall “that in 2013, Ary Abittan forcibly kissed [l’ex-Miss France, NDLR] Laury Thilleman. This time, the scene had been filmed” – a reference to a sequence from the show “Les Enfants de la Télé”, unearthed by social networks during the investigation targeting Ary Abittan.
“Indecency taken to its peak”
The activists specify what particularly outrages them in his case: “Ary Abittan takes indecency to its height by using this affair to make people laugh. By making her ridiculous in his show, he capitalizes on the trauma inflicted on his victims, all this with the support of several theaters across France. Including the Barrière Casino Theater in Bordeaux. » The establishment did not wish to react to our requests.
