Marie Portolano defamation hearing centres on Pierre Ménès conduct amid his absence | OneFootball

Marie Portolano’s defamation hearing, brought by Pierre Ménès, centred on allegations about his conduct despite his absence. A separate trial on the sexual assault claim is due in November.

According to Le Progres, the court refused Ménès’s request to delay for a medical appointment, calling it unjustified. He neither attended nor had counsel. The ruling is set for 4 November, the merits case for 16 November in Nanterre.

Portolano described avoidance strategies used by women when the pundit was present. She recounted a 2016 Canal Football Club photo with Antoine Griezmann where, she said, Ménès lifted her skirt, she struck him and left angry. Her lawyer Christophe Bigot said three direct witnesses, including host Hervé Mathoux, corroborated it.

She alleged he frequently touched her breasts or buttocks, a pattern she said make-up artists also endured, and colleagues spoke of a perceived droit de cuissage. Bigot cited Labour Inspectorate findings of groping of pregnant women, repeated hands on buttocks and public humiliations. The prosecutor said there was sufficient factual basis for good-faith allegations.

Portolano said her 2024 book, which does not name Ménès, aimed to expose a system, adding that the real culprits were those who let him act. A 2021 documentary she co-directed saw a segment about Ménès cut at Canal+’s request, and in that clip he said he did not recall the incident and could do it again.

Source: Le Progres

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