French #MeToo founder sued for slander by man she accused

Paris: The woman behind France’s answer to the #MeToo campaign exposing abusive behaviour by men appeared in court on Wednesday accused of slandering a media executive who she said had made lewd remarks.

Sandra Muller, a US-based French journalist, is being sued for defamation by French TV executive Eric Brion at a Paris court over a Twitter post accusing him of humiliating her with vulgar comments.

Muller and Brion, a media consultant and former head of TV channel Equidia, were both present in court for the hearing.

Muller started a viral hashtag in French in October 2017, #balancetonporc (“expose your pig”), which called on Frenchwomen to name and shame men in an echo of the #MeToo movement that began in response to allegations that toppled movie producer Harvey Weinstein.

In her Twitter post, she told of how Brion had humiliated her, saying: “You have big breasts. You are my type of woman. I will make you orgasm all night.” The post led to an outpouring of tales of harassment and assault, which were hailed as ending a culture of permissiveness in France towards unwanted advances.

After apologising for his remarks, Brion nonetheless decided to launch legal action against her.