The lawyer of The Press and two journalists sued for defamation by Montreal choreographer Steve Bolton cross-examined him on Wednesday, in order to confront him on portions of his testimony.
On Tuesday, Mr Bolton aired his grievances towards the report published in The Press in December 2017 under the title “Rain of denunciations against a star choreographer”.
The article reports that about twenty complaints have been filed with the Union des artistes (UDA) against the choreographer – who worked on TV in the shows The dancing gods and The voice as well as in hit musicals like Mary Poppins. These complaints contain allegations ranging from verbal and physical abuse to untenable working conditions and abuse of power.
Steve Bolton criticizes the two investigative journalists Katia Gagnon and Stéphanie Vallet – the latter now works at the To have to — of having used information “in a misleading way” and without putting it into context. Their collection of information is biased and biased, he denounces: they favored the version of the plaintiffs and ignored or minimized his, all for the purpose of sensationalism, it is alleged in his lawsuit. He claims more than $265,000 from them.
These reproaches are denied by the three defendants, who claim to have committed no fault because they claim to have written and published a complete, nuanced and fair article.
Mr Bolton went to great lengths on Tuesday to demonstrate that criticisms leveled at him, including by dancers, were untrue or completely out of context – and that he is not the angry, aggressive person some have portrayed. In cross-examination on Wednesday, the defense lawyer, Me Geneviève Gagnon, notably confronted him with various events recounted by the complainants, and reported in the 2017 article.
She also played a telephone conversation in the courtroom where we hear her yelling at the Acadian dancer Janick Arseneau for long minutes – until the judge made it clear that it was enough.
Mr. Bolton acknowledged that it was not ideal to talk to anyone in this way, but pointed out that while Ms. Arseneau was calm during this conversation, she was not during the previous ones. He also stated that she knew the conversation was recorded, but he did not.
Me Gagnon also cross-examined him on the contracts he obtained after the article appeared in The Presssince Mr. Bolton alleges that he has lost a lot — 80 to 90% of his work, he said — hardly anyone wants to associate with him.
He said he kept his contracts on the musicals Famous in 2017 and Footloose in 2018. Then, he notably worked on other musicals: Mamma Mia in 2019, Rock of Ages in 2022 and finally he was selected for The Bodyguard which is to be presented on the stage in 2023.
A healthy and perfect reputation
The second witness at the trial was Guy Lévesque, Mr. Bolton’s artistic agent since 2012. The man is also a director and himself hired the choreographer on productions for which he worked.
Asked about Mr. Bolton’s reputation before the article appeared, he replied: “Number One. A+. Everyone wanted to work with him. Later he will add that his reputation was healthy, perfect, and that he had a rigorous work ethic.
“I’ve never seen Steve do anything inappropriate, otherwise I wouldn’t have hired him. »
Moreover, no grievance was filed with the UDA, underlined Mr. Lévesque at trial.
He also said during his testimony that the TVA network had decided that the services of Steve Bolton would no longer be retained as a judge for the popular dance show Revolution after the production house was contacted by the UDA about the complaints received against the choreographer — but before the article appeared in The Press.