A defamation duel is underway between actor Jasmin Roy and a man who accuses him of sexual assault, Jean-François Robillard. The case took root in the wake of the #metoo movement, in 2020. It dates back to an evening in a bar in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, 20 years earlier.
Actor and host Jasmin Roy is being sued for $500,000 by a man who accuses him of sexual assault and defamation. But the case goes back a long way.
Jasmin Roy had been threatening for a few years to sue Jean-François Robillard for defamation, because the latter had denounced him publicly on social networks. Jasmin Roy wanted to initiate these legal proceedings on condition of anonymity to preserve his reputation, which was refused to him in the Supreme Court on May 25.
Since then, he claims to be himself a victim of harassment from Mr. Robillard.
According to the facts alleged, it all started when Jasmin Roy and Jean-François Robillard were in a bar in Rouyn-Noranda in 2001. At the counter, Jasmin Roy sucked Mr. Robillard’s ear until he removed his earrings. ear with his tongue, can we read in the court documents of the lawsuit brought by Mr. Robillard on Friday.
A little later, the actor would have joined Mr. Robillard in the toilets. While preventing him from leaving his cabin, he masturbated in front of him and ejaculated on him.
Mr. Robillard froze and felt paralyzed, we can read. In the following years, he will give up his studies to become a police officer, because she “then questions his ability to react well under stress and his skills to become a good police officer”. Other studies in the human sciences will also be neglected due to pervasive anxiety.
The man will finally complete a social work technique in 2010 and land a job as a worker.
Even today, he claims to have “daily panic attacks, anxiety attacks and insomnia”. Mr. Robillard was also diagnosed with post-traumatic stress resulting from the assault, according to the court document.
say his name
It was in the wake of the #metoo movement that Mr. Robillard realized all the impact that sexual assault had had on his life, he says. In July 2020, he made a statement on social networks to publicly denounce Jasmin Roy.
In August of the same year, he received a formal notice from the actor. He then removed his statement from social media.
In September 2020, Jean-François Robillard decided to file a complaint with the police for the sexual assault suffered. A police investigation was triggered by the Sûreté du Québec, given that the alleged facts had occurred in Abitibi-Témiscamingue.
Seven months later, Jean-François Robillard learned that due to insufficient evidence, no charges could be filed against his attacker. Mr. Robillard then chose to return to social networks where he again spoke about the sexual assault.
Request for anonymity
Starting in April 2021, Jasmin Roy and her anti-bullying foundation requested anonymity in court to be able to sue Mr. Robillard and the group Say his name for defamation.
This request was finally rejected on May 25. “The decision rendered by the Supreme Court, namely not to allow me to maintain my anonymity, obliges me to make a media outing to vigorously deny the allegations of Mr. Robillard”, reacted Jasmin Roy by press release following this decision.
On the contrary, the actor claims to be himself a victim of harassment by Mr. Robillard and to have filed a complaint with the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM). According to Jasmin Roy, Mr. Robillard would have tried several times to enter a building where he has accommodation. He would also have been threatening with a relative of an employee of the Jasmin Roy Sophie Desmarais Foundation.
According to Jean-François Robillard, these facts are either inaccurate or biased, can we read in the court documents. This is why he is suing Mr. Roy for defamation — in addition to sexual assault. He is asking for a total of $500,000.
“Mr. Roy’s request to act anonymously was rejected by the Superior Court, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. To react to this defeat by carrying out a public campaign of smearing against our client is not worthy of a person at the head of a foundation which fights against bullying”, reacted Friday evening by press release the lawyer of Mr. Robillard, M.e Virginie Dufresne-Lemire.
Jasmin Roy replied the same evening by affirming that he was going to bring a defamation action against Jean-François Robillard, the administrators of the group Say his name on social networks and Mrs.e Dufresne-Lemire.