A YouTuber specializing in fitness accused of harassing and launching digital packs against other influencers from the same universe was sentenced to two years in prison, including a closed one with a committal warrant on Monday by the court of Versailles.
Habannou S., 31, better known as Marvel Fitness on Youtube where he is followed by 146,000 people, was found guilty of moral harassment on nine people and violence against a lawyer.
In addition, it was prohibited to carry out a creative activity on social networks or on any website.
Known for giving his advice to sculpt his body, he has especially acquired a certain notoriety thanks to what he called his “dramas”, that is to say direct shots of other influencers in the fitness world.
One of its first victims, Aline Dessine, was targeted after criticizing a Marvel Fitness video while answering a fan question.
Described as
"crazy"
, she was then the subject of insults, threats and daily suicide calls from anonymous on all social networks.
“I know if I open my phone now I'm going to get dozens of threat messages.
I can block, there are always more, “
she delivered to the bar in tears.
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The community uses the Youtubeur's “punchlines”, inspired by manga and cinema culture, with references to Wakanda (imaginary African country in the Marvel universe) or to Voldemort.
"I tried everything: silence, negotiation"
, she explained, conceding to have gone so far as to publish a fake photo montage to make believe that Habannou S. had sent her a photo of his penis, this why she apologized.
Defeuillet-Vang, a former reality TV candidate, said he had been compared to Katsumi (former X actress of Asian origin) by Marvel Fitness who
"said that at 14 I was prostituting myself in Bangkok"
.
As influencers,
“we post videos every day.
And after a while we come to say to ourselves that it is normal to see
Katsumi
writing
in the comments or
you're a whore from Bangkok, ”said Tristan Defeuillet-Vang.
Habannou S. was also sentenced for attacking Me Laure-Alice Bouvier, lawyer for eight of the victims and also very active on social networks.
In one of the Marvel Fitness videos, the young man is seen chasing the lawyer, camera in hand, as she asks him to stop filming her.
Read also: The worrying explosion of online harassment
Opposite, Habannou S. chose to remain silent during the trial.
His lawyer, Me Marc Goudarzian, invoked a form of
“satire”
targeting public figures.
"This is exactly what the Guignols de l'Info was doing and it falls within the scope of freedom of expression,"
he pleaded.
The prosecutor had requested eight months in prison, a ban on all activity on social networks and a 20,000 euros fine.
Despite everything
"I do not know if the decision rendered will have the capacity to restore the civil parties to a normal course of life"
, he lamented.