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. In response, he himself sued this man, Jean-François Robillard, for defamation.
Jasmin Roy recently lost in the Supreme Court because he wanted to be able to sue Jean-François Robillard anonymously for defamation. The latter claims to have been sexually assaulted by Mr. Roy in Rouyn-Noranda in 2001.
Mr. Roy’s request for anonymity was rejected in the Superior Court, in the Court of Appeal and finally in the Supreme Court on May 25.
According to the facts alleged by Mr. Robillard, he and Jasmin Roy were in a bar in Rouyn-Noranda in 2001. At the bar, Jasmin Roy allegedly sucked the victim’s ear until he removed his earring with his language, read court documents from the lawsuit filed 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 said he realized all the impact that sexual assault had had on his life. In July 2020, he made a statement on social networks to publicly denounce Jasmin Roy.
In August of the same year, Mr. Robillard received a formal notice from the actor. He then withdrew his statement from social networks.
In September 2020, Jean-François Robillard decides to file a complaint with the police for the sexual assault suffered. A police investigation is triggered by the Sûreté du Québec, since the alleged facts occurred in Abitibi-Témiscamingue.
Seven months later, Jean-François Robillard learns that due to insufficient evidence, no charges can be filed against his attacker. Mr. Robillard then decides to turn to social networks where he speaks again of the sexual assault suffered.
Request for anonymity
From April 2021, Jasmin Roy and his foundation against bullying are requesting anonymity in Court to be able to sue Mr. Robillard and the group Say his name (on social networks) 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 their lawyer, Ms.e Virginie Dufresne-Lemire.