Julie Snyder and Pénélope McQuade will not be able to plead on appeal that the $450,000 defamation suit brought by Gilbert Rozon aims to gag them, has ruled the highest court in Quebec.
• Read also: The animators wanted revenge, believes Rozon
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“It is difficult for me to conclude, prima facie, that the applicants’ freedom of expression […] is thus limited,” judge Mark Schrager of the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled on Friday.
Since 2019, the two hosts have been sued by the fallen humor mogul because of remarks made during a program of The week of the 4 Julies in 2019. During an interview, the two women had claimed to have been sexually assaulted by Rozon in the past.
However, for the latter, it was clear that the two women wanted revenge on him, and damage his reputation just before a criminal trial for rape where he was acquitted.
“They knew exactly what they were doing and they know very, very well the impact it has,” Rozon said in an out-of-court interview. There is no one who might claim otherwise.”
Appeal dismissed
For the two facilitators, however, it was a SLAPP and they wanted an immediate end to the proceedings. Except that a judge of the Superior Court of Quebec summarily rejected their request, on the pretext that they did not have “a reasonable chance of success.”
“No damage can be proven [par Rozon]his reputation for his sexual behavior towards women having been reduced to nothing well before the show,” retorted the hosts in their request for appeal.
Except that the Court of Appeal ruled that there had been no error of law justifying its intervention.
“They will have the opportunity to present their arguments during the hearing on the merits,” concluded Judge Schrager, ordering that the file continue to advance.
He also recalled that for a prosecution to be declared a gag order, there must be an inequality in the balance of power. However, here, no one has pleaded this argument. As for Julie Snyder’s fears that her out-of-court interrogation will be publicized, the magistrate recalled that “certain means can be put in place” to protect some of her statements.
“However, I retain that the alleged defamatory words were uttered by her during a television broadcast; they have already been publicly broadcast,” added the judge.
