Jeane Manson suffered a serious heart attack on the evening of Tuesday, May 7, just after testifying in the defamation trial between her and her former daughter-in-law, Coline Berry-Rojtman. The singer, who collapsed in the courtroom, was immediately taken care of by the firefighters and taken to Saint-Joseph hospital in Lyon. According to our information, Jeane Manson suffers from a severe cardiac arrhythmia. Her life prognosis is not in jeopardy, but an intervention initially scheduled for the day was postponed, Jeane Manson’s heart being too weak to support it.
It was after 11 p.m. Tuesday evening when Jeane Manson was called to the stand by the judge. The Lyon Court of Appeal re-examined the case between Jeane Manson and Coline Berry-Rojtman. The daughter of Catherine Hiegel and Richard Berry had accused her father of incest, but also his wife at the time, Jeane Manson, of having participated in the touching. The singer filed a complaint for defamation.
She returns to the bench in tears and collapses
During her intervention, Jeane Manson vehemently defended herself from the accusations of her former daughter-in-law. “I’m not a rapist, not a liar,” she said. “I am a victim, I have not slept for three years,” she also said, referring to the damage the affair had on her career, such as the cancellations of concerts. At the end of this intense six or seven minute speech, Jeane Manson returned to her bench, in tears. Then she collapsed. Those around her initially believed that the singer had tripped, before understanding that the fall was of another order.
Her friend Sophie picked her up and called the firefighters. Coming to support Coline Berry-Rojtman, her cousin Marilou Berry filmed the incident by the firefighters on the phone, creating the start of an argument. In the courtroom, Jeane Manson was supported by her former husband André Djaoui, their daughter Shirel, Pascale Louange, current partner of Richard Berry, and Joséphine, the actor’s daughter, born from his union with the actress Jessica Forde. Fabien Lecoeuvre, music columnist and friend of Jeane Manson, was also present, also to testify about the consequences of the affair on the singer’s career. The latter was able to speak to him around one o’clock in the morning, on the phone.
Already an alert last winter
Jeane Manson already had a heart attack last winter. The trial had been moved to Lyon, in particular to allow the 73-year-old singer to get to the hearing more easily, from neighboring Auvergne where she lives. After the emergency departure of his client, Jeane Manson’s lawyer, Me Jacques Verdier, denounced in his pleading a “revenge” by Coline Berry-Rojtman against her father, of which his client “appears as a collateral victim”. For her part, Coline Berry-Rojtman maintained her position: “It is for me the most blatant injustice, because I am being prosecuted for having denounced the facts of which I was a victim.” “She must be protected,” insisted one of the defense lawyers, Patrick Klugman, at the close of the proceedings, calling on the court to “put an end to this scandal”.
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Jeane Manson had decided to sue her ex-daughter-in-law for defamation before the Aurillac court, in Cantal, where she lives part of the year. In April 2022, the court sentenced Coline Berry-Rojtman, born in 1976, to a fine of 2,000 euros for defamation and 20,000 euros in damages. The Riom Court of Appeal (Puy-de-Dôme) confirmed this conviction in December 2022. But in December 2023, the Court of Cassation annulled this judgment and sent the case back to the Lyon Court of Appeal.