MONTREAL — A lawyer for nine women accusing the founder of the Just for Laughs comedy festival of sexual assault said it’s impossible his clients are all lying about what happened to them.
Bruce Johnston made the comments in a Montreal courtroom on Monday in his closing arguments in the civil trial of Gilbert Rozon.
Rozon has claimed that the women have formed a coalition against him with the aim of getting rich, an assertion Johnston says is incomprehensible.
While only nine women are plaintiffs in the lawsuit, a total of 16 women “came forward to say they had been raped or assaulted” by him throughout the course of the civil trial, Johnston told the court. Their testimony was “corroborated by relatives or therapists that these women confided in.”
Rozon, 70, claims he had consensual relations with three of the nine women, but has denied the other allegations against him. The plaintiffs are seeking $14 million in damages for sexual assaults and rapes they allege occurred between 1980 and 2004.
Johnston said Rozon has “no credibility whatsoever,” adding that he has contradicted himself numerous times during his defence. “His testimony has been riddled with inconsistencies and lies. He has no qualms about backtracking or changing his story once he’s confronted with documentary evidence,” Johnston said.
Rozon’s version of the events has also been influenced by a “twisted” conception of what he constitutes consent to be, the lawyer said. He had an established “modus operandi” he would follow when targeting his victims, the lawyer argued.
He would show little interest in them at first, Johnston said, adding that Rozon would then find excuses to get them alone in a private place, catching them off guard by suddenly assaulting them.
The impacts for the women have been serious, said Jessica Lelièvre, another lawyer for the plaintiffs.
Many have developed mental health conditions like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder as a result, she said.
“We can never give these women back the life they never got to have, and the opportunities they missed,” she said.
Closing arguments for the defence are set to be heard at the courthouse later this week.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2025.
Miriam Lafontaine, The Canadian Press
