In the Morandini case, justice will deliver its verdict on Tuesday. The Paris court will rule on the fate of the host, tried for “sexual harassment” against a young actor and “hidden work” during the filming of a web series that he produced.
Jean-Marc Morandini of the CNews channel will not be present at the hearing, said one of his lawyers. During his trial in June, the prosecution requested a six-month suspended prison sentence.
A fake casting director
Aged 57, the host is suspected of having encouraged young actors, aged 19 to 26 at the time of the events, between June and September 2015, to show themselves naked for the castings of a web-series entitled The Falcons of which he was the producer. A pseudo casting director, Catherine Leclerc (in reality Jean-Marc Morandini under a pseudonym), had sent them emails asking them insistently to send videos of them naked, with their pubes shaved, and of scenes of masturbation sometimes with cumshots.
A young actor, Gabriel P., had notably received in August 2015 two emails from the fake Catherine, signed “mom”, asking him if he was ready to perform oral sex on Jean-Marc Morandini, “who is not n ‘anyone “. The young man, anxious not to miss out on the opportunity to become an actor, replied: “Obviously I’m not going to be picky about nudity (…). I will obey what you order me”.
The prosecutor denounces the host’s “taste for manipulation”
As part of this filming, Jean-Marc Morandini is also being prosecuted for “concealed work” by five plaintiffs via his production company “Ne zappez pas! Production” (NZPP). The actors had shot 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. Against NZPP, whose host is the sole manager, the prosecution requested a fine of 50,000 euros. In her requisitions, the prosecutor, Anne Proust, had denounced “the taste for manipulation” of the host.