“I ran for my life,” Julie Snyder testified Thursday, who recounted at Gilbert Rozon’s trial that she ran away from him in her pajamas by going outside at high speed in the streets of Paris.
Julie Snyder accuses the founding president of Just for Laughs of sexual assault, which allegedly occurred in 1991, when she was only 23 years old.
The host and producer, who is now 57 years old, is not suing the ex-comedy mogul for damages. Ms. Snyder was called to the stand as a witness. The request intends to present proof of “similar facts”, to strengthen the case of the nine women who are currently suing him for $14 million. Mr. Rozon, 70 years old, denies everything the plaintiffs accuse him of. He is expected to present his version of the facts at the trial in early 2025.
In 1991, Ms. Snyder was a young host of the cultural show “Sortir” on TQS. She recounted going to Paris to attend the premiere of comedian Michel Courtemanche’s show, organized by Just for Laughs.
Invited to go skiing with friends, she had the opportunity to stay for a few days in the Just for Laughs company apartment in Paris, at the same time as an employee of the organization. On the third day, this employee had to sleep elsewhere for work but Gilbert Rozon was in the apartment when Ms. Snyder returned in the evening, after supper. The discussion was very courteous and friendly, revolving around cultural subjects, she said in a court room at the Montreal courthouse.
She went to bed and fell into a “deep” sleep. Then, she reported feeling “very strong” pressure behind her. She opens her eyes and realizes that there is a hand on her breast and she feels “thumps on her back.” » Frightened, she thinks someone broke in and “was afraid of being stabbed.” » According to her account, she felt something inside her and thrusts.
When she turned around, she felt relief: he wasn’t a criminal and he didn’t have a knife. She saw Gilbert Rozon’s face and thought he had gotten into the wrong room.
But “he was completely naked,” she testified. He had bulging eyes and a crazy look. “He was like in a trance, he wasn’t the same person,” describes the producer.
Everything was going quickly in her head, ideas were jostling: “I said to myself: I won’t get killed, but I will get raped,” she said, very emotional, with sobs in her voice. She would have looked for ways to “not be a victim of violence as well.” » She got up, she told Superior Court Judge Chantal Tremblay, and allegedly gave the man excuses to stay calm: go to the bathroom, make a coffee.
According to her version, she instead picked up her shoes and rushed down the stairs, in her pajamas. Arriving on the sidewalk, “I ran for my life. » Then she turned around: he had not followed her. She wandered around the city, on the Champs-Élysées which is very close to the official apartment, took a taxi and went to visit friends in the early morning.
“I was lucky that my survival instinct kicked in. »
She did not even think of filing a police report, she recounted at the trial. “I closed a drawer in my head. » She believed that if she reported him, her career would be over. In addition to having suffered an attack, she did not want to harm her career as well. “It was unthinkable. »
Ms. Snyder said she blamed herself for “not having raised her hand” when a young dealer from Manoir Rouville-Campbell filed a complaint against Gilbert Rozon for sexual assault.
She also explained to the judge that she had read an article in February 2018 from Duty. The journalist Améli Pineda reported Mr. Rozon’s words, thrown to the media on the sidelines of another dispute which was before the court. This line in particular shocked her: “I’ve never made love to someone if someone said no, ever.” »
“I just felt like saying: shut up. “, she said, losing her temper. “I couldn’t say no or say yes, I was asleep. »
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