Youtuber Léo Grasset is under investigation for rape

Europe 1 with AFP 12:08 p.m., November 30, 2022, modified at 12:09 p.m., November 30, 2022

A rape investigation was opened on Tuesday, November 29, after a complaint against the youtubeur Léo Grasset, said the Paris prosecutor's office, confirming information from "Mediapart".

The investigations were entrusted to the third division of the judicial police (DPJ), said the prosecution.

Léo Grasset strongly denies the accusations

According to 

, the complaint was filed Thursday, November 24 by a 22-year-old journalism student, who denounced facts dating back to one night in November 2021. Léo Grasset "firmly contests the accusations" and "will provide his answers to the competent judicial authorities “, commented to Agence France-Presse (AFP) Me Fares Aidel, who defends him with Me Camille Loyer.

A preliminary investigation also opened by the Lyon public prosecutor's office

The science popularizer, who is followed by 1.2 million subscribers on his YouTube channel,

, is also the subject of a preliminary investigation by the Lyon prosecutor's office, the latter confirmed.

This investigation was opened following a complaint for sexual harassment, filed, according to 

, at the end of June by Clothilde Chamussy, who hosts the YouTube channel

, with 127,000 subscribers.

A "messy love life"

The influencer responded to the accusations relayed by 

in a video posted on his channel in mid-November.

"I have a sometimes messy love life, and I also sometimes make big redneck jokes, but nevertheless the article paints a portrait of me who is dishonest; it builds a toxic character with blows of insinuations and of truncated quotations", he declares there, denying in particular having raped a young woman in 2016.