“Totally indisputable.” These are the words used by Richard Berry’s lawyer to characterize the actor’s innocence, in reaction to the decision of the Court of Cassation annulling his daughter’s conviction for defamation against her ex-mother-in-law Jeane Manson. “The innocence of Richard Berry, which he has always proclaimed with the greatest vigor, is completely incontestable and cannot be called into question, in any way whatsoever,” stressed Mr. Dylan Slama in a press release.
“Richard Berry is neither a defendant nor a plaintiff in any matter whatsoever. This is why, despite the headlines in certain media, there is no ‘Richard Berry affair’,” he added.
An investigation closed without further action
In an article published by The world in February 2021, Coline Berry-Rojtman spoke of sexual violence that she suffered as a minor in 1984 and 1985 at the home of her father who then lived with Jeane Manson, accused of having participated with him in these attacks. The investigation opened in Paris targeting the actor accused of incest by his daughter was dismissed on August 31, 2022 due to statute of limitations.
Jeane Manson, a 73-year-old former singer, had decided to sue her ex-daughter-in-law for defamation before the Aurillac court, in Cantal, where she lives part of the year.
Coline Berry-Rojtman’s conviction overturned
In April 2022, the court sentenced Coline Berry-Rojtman, 47, to a fine of 2,000 euros for defamation. The actor’s daughter also had to pay 20,000 euros in damages to her former mother-in-law, as well as 5,000 euros in legal costs. The Riom Court of Appeal (Puy-de-Dôme) confirmed this conviction in December 2022, adding the same sum for legal costs, i.e. a total of 10,000 euros.
But on December 5, the Court of Cassation annulled this judgment and sent the case back to the Lyon Court of Appeal. According to Me Dylan Slama, “the Court of Cassation based itself on purely legal reasons without, at any time, calling into question the innocence of Richard Berry”. Richard Berry did not file a complaint against his daughter.