The Paris court found host Jean-Marc Morandini guilty of sexual harassment against a young actor and sentenced him to six months in prison with a two-year probationary sentence on Tuesday August 29. The court also condemned the production company Ne zapez pas! Production, of which Jean-Marc Morandini is the sole manager, for “concealed work”. His lawyers said he would appeal the conviction.
He also has the obligation to undergo psychological care and is deprived of his right to eligibility for three years. If he did not follow court orders for the next two years, his reprieve (says “probationary”) would be revoked.
The television channel that employs him, CNews, has already announced that it is keeping its host on the air. “We are committed to respecting the presumption of innocence”, defends billionaire Vincent Bolloré’s television channel. The arrival of Jean-Marc Morandini on i-Télé (now CNews) in October 2016 provoked an unprecedented strike by journalists from the channel, then the departure of around a hundred of them.
In August 2015, a young actor, Gabriel P., had received two emails from Catherine Leclerc (actually Jean-Marc Morandini under a pseudonym), alleged casting director of a web series of which Jean-Marc Morandini was the producer, asking him to he was ready to perform oral sex on Mr. Morandini, “who is not just anyone”. The young man, anxious not to miss the opportunity to become an actor, replied: “Obviously I’m not going to be picky about nudity (…). I will obey what you order me. »
“Through electronic exchanges, Jean-Marc Morandini’s requests went crescendo. Gabriel [la victime âgée de 19 ans au moment des faits] was only responding to repeated requests while he was caught in a psychological gear set up by the defendant”, affirmed the president of the 31ᵉ correctional chamber by reading the judgment of the court. The host will have to pay a fine of 10,000 euros and compensate the young victim up to 13,000 euros, in particular for image damage.
She also insisted on “financial interest” by Mr. Morandini, who wanted to market a version of the web series prohibited for those under 16 on the Internet. “When the episodes were marketed, the rushes were sold at a higher price than the episodes themselves. Jean-Marc Morandini therefore had a financial interest in the young man agreeing to go ever further in this area.said the president.
“The taste for manipulation”, says the prosecutor
Regarding concealed work, actors had filmed a few episodes without being paid or declared to social organizations. They were finally paid in August 2016, a month after the magazine revealed the affair. The Inrocks. In her submissions, the prosecutor, Anne Proust, had denounced “the taste of manipulation” of the moderator.
In December, the host was sentenced to a one-year suspended prison sentence with a two-year care obligation and his registration in the file of perpetrators of sexual or violent offenses for acts of “corruption of minors” committed on three teenagers between 2009 and 2016, during electronic exchanges of a sexual nature and during a casting call at his home. He also appealed against this conviction.