Sex trial: Quebec TV host Julie Snyder testifies against Just for Laughs founder

By Pierre Saint-Arnaud, The Canadian Press on December 19, 2024.

Quebec television personality Julie Snyder arrives at the courthouse for the civil trial for sexual assault against Just for Laughs founder Gilbert Rozon in Montreal on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

MONTREAL – Quebec TV host and producer Julie Snyder told a civil trial today that she was sexually assaulted by Just for Laughs founder Gilbert Rozon in Paris more than three decades ago.

Snyder says that in 1991, when she was 23 years old, she was invited to stay at the apartment of the Just for Laughs company, and went to sleep and woke up to being sexually assaulted by Rozon.

She says she stayed silent for years because she feared going public would damage her career, but she says she finally reported him to Montreal police in 2017 after other alleged victims made accusations against him.

Snyder’s testimony is part of a nearly $14-million civil lawsuit against Rozon by nine women – excluding Snyder – who are suing the Just For Laughs founder individually.

Quebec Superior Court Justice Chantal Tremblay is hearing the lawsuits together in a single trial.

Rozon, 70, has denied the allegations against him, and his legal team said last week that the women had communicated with each other and “contaminated” each other’s stories.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 19, 2024.