The former star columnist of Canal + Pierre Ménès, targeted by an investigation for sexual assault and sexual harassment in Nanterre, was heard in free hearing in September by the investigators, sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
Pierre Ménès, 59, was heard by the police officers of the Brigade for the repression of delinquency against persons (BRDP), in charge of investigations.
Contacted, his lawyer did not wish to react.
In this preliminary investigation opened in early January, Marie Portolano, journalist and director of a documentary accusing Pierre Ménès of sexual assault, was heard in April on the sexual assault she says she suffered in 2016. She accuses Pierre Ménès of lifting her skirt and touching her buttocks, off the air and in front of the audience of the Canal Football Club broadcast.
Several other people, victims, or who can be considered victims, and witnesses, have also been interviewed for several months, according to another source familiar with the matter.
In the documentary "I'm not a slut, I'm a journalist", dealing with sexism in the world of sports journalism and broadcast in the spring of 2021 on Canal +, Pierre Ménès is also accused of having forcibly kissed two columnists, Isabelle Moreau and Francesca Antoniotti, during television broadcasts.
Tried for another sexual assault case in March
An internal investigation was opened in the wake of the Canal + channel, accused of having removed from the documentary the most incriminating passages for its star columnist.
After the results of this internal investigation, the labor inspectorate of Hauts-de-Seine (department where the headquarters of Canal + is located) decided in December 2021 to take legal action.
These investigations relate to all the facts mentioned in the report of the labor inspectorate and not only to the facts publicized by Marie Portolano.
Pierre Ménès left Canal + in the summer of 2021 after these revelations which prompted him to present his "regrets" and "most sincere apologies" to his "victims".
He is also due to be tried in March in Paris for the alleged sexual assault of a hostess at the Parc des Princes in November 2021 and two Nike saleswomen in June 2018.
In Nanterre, a judicial investigation of the head of "moral harassment", targeting the columnist, was also opened in December 2020 following a complaint filed with civil action in May 2020 by his former assistant Emmanuel Trumer, who accuses him of "homophobia" and "racism".
