Benjamin Dessange, youngest son of the world-famous French hairdresser, Jacques Dessange, who died in 2020, died at the age of 57, according to corroborating sources atAgence France-Presse (AFP). He was to be tried in Paris for aggravated sexual harassment.
The information of his disappearance, transmitted to theAFP by a source close to the matter, was confirmed by the Dessange International group, Thursday November 7, 2024.
“The death occurred the day before yesterday, the 5th” November, indicated the group, which made it clear that Benjamin Dessange “had left the company in 2018 and was no longer part of it, neither as a shareholder nor as an employee”. Dessange International made no further comment.
A former employee accused him of having had “an inappropriate attitude”
A former employee of the Dessange group, Annabel Talon, filed a complaint against the heir to the hairdresser to the stars, in 2014, then in 2015. She accused him of malicious telephone calls, intentional violence and sexual harassment.
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From 2011, the one who became president of Dessange International would have adopted “an inappropriate attitude” towards him. And this for two years, until she left the group as part of a conventional breakup.
Benjamin Dessange was indicted in October 2022. On April 8, an investigating judge ordered a trial before the Paris Criminal Court, based in particular on around fifty SMS messages sent to the former employee of the group , sometimes of a sexual nature, and testimonies from personal and professional entourage reporting inappropriate behavior towards her.
“We dispute the facts. This person has been pursuing Benjamin Dessange with his hatred for fifteen years”then declared his lawyer, Me Richard Koplewicz, requested by theAFP.
Benjamin Dessange pleaded conspiracy
The judge retained the aggravating circumstance of abuse of authority, due to the hierarchical relationship and the right of oversight that Benjamin Dessange had over the complainant's work.
Summoned in 2018, he denied the facts and claimed that he had a consensual sexual relationship with his employee, which the latter disputes.
“She had a lot of contact with my father, and my father created a vendetta”declared Benjamin Dessange, who had notoriously difficult relations with his father since 2008, during his interrogation. An unsubstantiated conspiracy theory, according to the conclusions of the investigating magistrate.
