Yanis Marshall was the guest of Faustine Bollaert this Monday afternoon on France 2 for a special issue of “It starts today” dedicated to #MeToo for men. The choreographer, former dance teacher at the “Star Academy”, burst into tears when recalling the sexual abuse that his former mentor Bruno Vandelli allegedly subjected him to when he was a minor.
Yanis Marshall bullied as a child
Guest of Faustine Bollaert, choreographer Yanis Marshall spoke about a moving episode from his youth. Known for his talents as a choreographer and his performances in Star Academy, the dancer said he was the victim of sexual harassment and abuse when he was still a minor.
This influence profoundly marked his life. At the time, young Yanis thought he was having a love affair with his dance teacher, whom he saw as “the only person who mattered” for him. “He took my childhood from me”he confided, referring to the devastating impact of these abuses.
A trauma buried for years
The 34-year-old dancer and choreographer revealed a few months ago the rape and sexual abuse that his mentor, the famous choreographer Bruno Vandelli, subjected him to when he was still a teenager. Abused by this man at the age of fourteen, the former professor of Star Academy thus gradually emerges from the silence he had imposed on himself.
“It took me ten years to understand what I had experienced.”he confided to Faustine Bollaert. In front of the host, Yanis Marshall explains that it took him a decade to grasp the true nature of what he had suffered, being “lover“from his dance teacher whom he respected “ten times more than any other person.”
“Quickly, there was touching which started in class”he describes. Bruno Vandelli then allegedly lured him to his home, where he raped him on his bed. “I remember that my legs were starting to tremble (…) There he put his hand on me and he raped me,” confides Yanis Marshall, with tears in his eyes.
A painful relationship with his mother
When Yanis Marshall's mother discovered the abuse her son suffered, she made the decision to send him to the United States to protect him and keep him away from his mentor. A radical decision which deeply marked the young man, the “cutting off from the world, [ses] friends, of [sa] mother, of all people.”
At the time, Yanis violently opposed this initiative, going so far as to threaten suicide or deny the facts. “I was very aggressive with my mother”he remembers today. This period seriously deteriorated their ties. “He took part of my childhood, but he also took away my relationship with my mother”regrets Yanis Marshall, who wants it “enormously” to his alleged attacker for this.
A heavy legal and personal fight
Today, Yanis Marshall is doing better, but he remains deeply affected to see his name associated with that of his alleged attacker. “This is killing me”he said, moved. “I have worked all my life to have the career I have, all my life I grew up in public housing, today I live very well, I am respected in the world of dance… So we can say what we want, but when we speak, we are…”
A sentence that he couldn't finish, overwhelmed by emotion. Because for years, the choreographer has been waging a tough legal and personal battle to rebuild himself after these traumas. “I attempted suicide (…) I filed a complaint, everything is underway… There it is, it’s going to take years”he confided.
Despite the difficulties, Yanis Marshall decided to break the silence in January 2024, filing a complaint against Bruno Vandelli for “rape and sexual assault of a minor“. A legal procedure still in progress, where the alleged attacker categorically denies the facts.
Related News :