Targeted by a complaint for sexual harassment filed at the beginning of the week by a technician with whom he worked, the 35-year-old artist will still be present in Cannes, this Friday, November 1, for the ceremony. He is nominated in two categories.
Eventually, he will be there. Targeted since the beginning of the week by a complaint for sexual harassment filed by a technician with whom he worked, singer Slimane will participate this Friday, November 1, in the NRJ Music Awards ceremony in Cannes, in the Alpes-Maritimes, according to a information from Parisian. The artist revealed by the show The Voice in 2016 is nominated in two categories: “French-speaking song of the year”, with the title My love, thanks to which he won fourth place in the Eurovision song contest in May and that he is supposed to perform again this evening, and “French-speaking male artist”.
According to the Parisianthe organizers considered canceling the 35-year-old singer's appearance, or even withdrawing his nominations, but they ultimately decided not to modify their program. “He remains presumed innocent, so we do not have to judge him. Now, if he decides not to come for one reason or another, it's his choice and we will respect it. explained Wednesday a source close to the negotiations cited by the daily.
Prevent the affair from becoming known
The complaint against the artist comes from a “lawyer representing an entertainment technician who declares having been the victim of sexual harassment by the singer Slimane, in December 2023, during a concert at the Zénith in Saint-Etienne”, explained Tuesday the prosecutor of the Loire prefecture, David Charmatz. Slimane is accused of having blocked the technician against a wall to propose to him for sex, before sending him against his will several messages and videos, some of which were pornographic. He disputed the facts and declared that the exchanges were consensual. The Saint-Etienne prosecutor explained that he was now “waiting for evidence, in the form of various recordings, which this lawyer has announced she holds and must [lui] send”, to decide whether to open a preliminary investigation.
In their respective columns, the Parisian et Mediapart recounted this week how the entourage of the native of Montfermeil (Seine-Saint-Denis) – and even the sultry businesswoman Mimi Marchand (who works with the company Indifférence Prod, which produces Slimane) – struggled to prevent this affair from compromising its participation in Eurovision in May. For several weeks, Slimane refrained from speaking to the press, and his agent Saïd Boussif reportedly tried to dissuade journalists from investigating his protégé. Mimi Marchand, for her part, would have written to the former news chief of the celebrity magazine Here is Thierry Clopeau, who reassured her in writing about her intentions: “We won't talk about the “sex photos” story sent to the tour technician, no handrail, no complaint filed and since everything has been settled, that's obviously not the angle of the paper…” .
According to the ParisianTF1 and France Télévisions were also made aware of the accusations against the artist, the first from December 2023 by the withdrawal of the service provider for whom the complainant who filed a complaint worked, the second by journalists from Parisian themselves, a few days before Eurovision, of which the public body is the broadcaster. “At the time, these were rumors, not proven facts. And our work does not depend on rumors,” France Télévisions is defending itself today in the Parisian.
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