• The owner of the “Jacquie et Michel” site, Michel Piron, and four other people were placed in police custody on Tuesday in the investigation opened in July 2020 in Paris for “rape and pimping”.

  • "Jacquie et Michel" is a group born in 1999 and which based its success on the purchase of amateur videos at low cost in France.

    It announced 15 million euros in turnover in 2016.

  • Back to the “Jacquie et Michel” affair, a thunderclap in the amateur porn industry.

For a year, exceptional court cases have forced French porn to react and change its practices, a difficult step for an environment where consent is sometimes an abstract notion.

At the center of this file, the pornographic site "Jacquie et Michel", currently under investigation for "rape" and "pimping", and the sprawling case targeting the practices of "French Bukkake".

A platform that offers extremely violent videos featuring young women often making their debut in the industry.

It would be the first time in France that porn actors have been prosecuted for "rape".

While this Tuesday, the owner of "Jacquie et Michel" was placed in police custody,

20 Minutes

takes stock of this case which is shaking the amateur porn industry.

"Jacquie and Michel", what is it?

"Jacquie et Michel" is a group born in 1999 and which based its success on the purchase of amateur videos at low cost in France.

The group, which notably owns the pornographic site in its name, announced a turnover of 15 million euros in 2016. "Jacquie et Michel" gradually professionalized its production, to come to now compete with the Dorcel group and ranks among the leaders of the pornographic industry.

Where are we with the investigation for “rape and pimping” concerning him?

The owner of the "Jacquie et Michel" site, Michel Piron, and four other people were taken into custody on Tuesday in the investigation for "rape and pimping".

Nicolas Cellupica, the lawyer for the Arès group, chaired by Michel Piron and owner of the famous eponymous pornographic site, announced the placement in police custody of his 64-year-old client as well as his wife, Araceli, aged 60.

Michel Piron is retained in particular for "sexual assault" as well as for complicity in several offenses, including "aggravated rape", "aggravated pimping" and "trafficking in human beings", according to the Paris prosecutor's office.

Three men, presented as "actors" by a source close to the case, are in particular in police custody for "aggravated rape or in a meeting", "trafficking in human beings" or even "pimping", still according to the prosecution.

When was the investigation?

The Paris public prosecutor's office launched this investigation in July 2020 for "rape and pimping", entrusted to the 3rd district of the Paris judicial police, after a report sent by Dare feminism, the Effronté-es and the movement of the Nest.

These three associations relayed the testimonies of several actresses.

In essence, these ensure that many actresses are forced to perform “unconventional and painful” sexual practices when they are not consenting.

And that they then undergo the dissemination of their image, even of their identity, without having the slightest control over this dissemination.

“This is why we qualify pornography as an act of torture and barbarism”, summed up

Claire Quidet, president of the Mouvement du Nid, in this description at

20 Minutes .

The starting point of this whole affair?

The broadcast by the Konbini site, in February 2020, of the testimony of two actresses recounting having undergone sexual acts for which they were not prepared.

According to the prosecution, "the procedure has seven complainants" to date.

The fact remains that the platform, popularized by the formula “We say thank you who?

is just the tree that hides a gigantic forest of other porn sites on which the videos are also distributed in order to multiply the income triggered by each viewing.

Another survey, conducted in Paris since 2020, thus targets the practices of the “French Bukkake” platform.

At least 12 people, including the producers nicknamed Pascal OP and Mat Hadix, are being prosecuted in this case, exceptional in its scope and open for "aggravated human trafficking", "rape in a meeting" or "aggravated pimping".

Since then, investigators have identified around fifty victims.

What the law says ?

This is a subject that still angers in the porn industry: the distinction between "professional" and "amateur".

Following revelations about violence in the sector, French platforms such as "Dorcel" or "Jacquie et Michel" announced in November 2020 their desire to adopt ethical and deontological charters.

The fact remains that on Tuesday, at the announcement of the placement in police custody of his client, Michel Piron's lawyer again hammered home that "pornography had never been equated with prostitution: a porn actress is not a prostitute and a producer or broadcaster is not a pimp”.

The porn industry is a "lawless" zone, according to Dare Feminism https://t.co/ENjTS4ILfh

— 20 Minutes (@20Minutes) January 24, 2022


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However, in January 2022, Osez le féminisme proceeded to report 200 “illegal” videos on porn sites, including Pornhub.

According to her, these videos posted on sites classified X general public would include scenes of "acts of torture and barbarism" or even facts of "pedocriminality".

"'Amateur porn' is a big lie.

Only an organized pimping system exists.

Sexual penetrations are obtained under duress for (…) women turned down and trapped, the uncontrolled broadcasts of videos are the norm of this criminal industry”, thus recalled Tuesday Dare feminism.

Our file on “Jacquie and Michel”

At the beginning of February, the Senate women's rights delegation heard from two journalists who had investigated the “terrifying” environment of the pornography industry.

The objective: to protect the actresses and supervise the productions.

The conclusions are more than expected by feminist associations, which demand "the end of impunity for the criminal pornographic industry".

Justice

Jacquie and Michel: “They messed me up!

They imposed things on me that I didn't want!

»

Company

Suspicions of rape in porn: The porn industry struggles to find a second wind

  • Company

  • Porn

  • Rape

  • Jacquie and Michael

  • Violence against women

  • Sexual violence