#BalanceTonYoutubeur: InThePanda at the center of a Numerama investigation

SURVEY – A new #BalanceTonYoutubeur case. The online media Numerama publishes this Friday, December 16 an investigation in which about twenty people, alleged victims or witnesses, accuse the French Youtuber InThePanda – Victor Bonnefoy in the civil status – of facts characterized by the law of “corruption of a minor”, “sexual assault” and “rape”. What the concerned denied by the voice of his lawyer.

InThePanda, YouTuber specializing in cinema followed by some 300,000 subscribers on the social network and author of the podcast sorry cinemais the target of many testimonies and accusations on Twitter since 2016. But this is the first time that a major investigation has brought together so many sources. In the article, Numerama relays the words of several alleged victims, who testify to recent facts dating from September 2022. “ We go into my room, and after 2 minutes, he jumps on me. He kisses me, and even if I say no, he tries to convince me to sleep with him in a very heavy way”, says one of them.

Other accounts relate to older facts dating back to 2014 and describe the ” nude photo requests insistent that InThePanda would have sent. Among the alleged victims, some were minors at the time.

InThePanda “strongly contests”

” These interviews all paint the same picture. “, describes the journalist author of investigation“ that of an influential youtuber, with a strong hold on his community of fans and his relatives; of a personality aware of his notoriety, who would have taken advantage of his status to obtain naked photos of his subscribers and who would have abused some of his sexual partners. »

Presumed innocent, Victor Bonnefoy refused to answer questions from Numeramapreferring to leave a succinct word to his lawyer: “ In response to your questions, he strongly denies having committed any sexual offence, whether against adults or minors. “. No complaint against Victor Bonnefoy has yet been filed, specifies Numerama.

At the beginning of November, when a series of similar testimonies had emerged on the social network Twitter, the site Critical sense for which InThePanda occasionally produced videos, made the decision to stop working with him. ” Following the proliferation in recent days of incriminating testimonies on Twitter, we have decided to cease our collaboration with the latter. “Said a brief statement. The same day, the cinema Le Club de l’Étoile announced the cancellation of a festival co-organized with Victor Bonnefoy.

InThePanda, less and less active in recent months on Twitter as on Youtube, came out of silence on November 7 in a short Instagram story. “ Forgive my late speech but I had to wait for a bailiff to see the remarks aimed at me for several days “, he wrote. ” As already said, I protest against the spread of rumors against me “, referring to” legal procedures “one he would have ” initiated and ongoing and another that he said ” getting ready to throw “.

Norman Thavaud and Léo Grasset under investigation

In 2018, the number one French youtubeur, Squeezie (17.6 million subscribers) denounced on Twitter “YouTubers (including those shouting from the rooftops that they are feminists) who take advantage of the psychological vulnerability of young subscribers to obtain sex”.

His tweet had been widely redistributed as part of the #BalanceTonYoutubeur movement. Some testimonies had already targeted InThePanda at the time, but also Norman Thavaud.

Norman, the third French YouTuber in number of subscribers, was placed in police custody on December 5 as part of a preliminary investigation entrusted to the Brigade for the Protection of Minors (BPM), opened in January 2022. It emerged free the next evening, without pursuit at this stage. Six young women have filed a complaint against the youtubeur. A seventh complaint has also been sent to the prosecution, and is being analyzed, said the public prosecutor.

Another youtubeur, Léo Grasset, a specialist in popular science, is the target of two preliminary investigations opened in 2022 in Paris and Lyon, concerning accusations of rape and sexual harassment.

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