At the center of the controversy over influencers, the boss of the Shauna Events agency, Magali Berdah, says she is being cyberstalked by the one who has proclaimed himself as the spokesperson for this cause, the rapper Booba.
This Wednesday, she gave a press conference to make public the complaints filed against the rapper.
According to his lawyer, about fifteen complaints were filed, including ten for harassment.
It was a bit like the media drama of the summer: influencer scams.
Numerous investigations, including that of 20 Minutes on the excesses of reality TV stars passionate about risky financial products, have brought to light the hidden face of the world of influence and its excesses.
But the story went far beyond the journalistic sphere and focused more on two characters on social networks.
In the center of the ring, a real 1v1 has taken place between rapper Booba and Magali Berdah - the high priestess of influence - which is no longer useful to present.
With his hashtag #influvoleurs, the Duke of Boulogne has established himself as the new spokesperson for abuses of influence… no doubt out of opportunism.
The problem is that this 1v1 quickly turned into a dark story of cyberbullying “in a pack” of which the boss of the influencer agency Shauna Events claims to be a victim.
Cyberbullying for 4 months
The last straw surely took place on Sunday evening during the broadcast on France 2 of the Supplement to the investigation entitled “Scams, money and politics: the real business of influencers”.
He notably highlighted the central role of Magali Berdah in the lucrative – and sometimes illegal – business of influence.
What's more, it had a huge media impact, with more than 372,000 views in twenty-four hours.
This report was also, for Magali Berdah, the occasion of a new wave of insults and mockery, in particular on her punchline on tendonitis.
It was surely too much for the boss of Shauna Events, who decided to summon the press this Wednesday to make public "all the elements of the case of cyberharassment by Booba of which she has been the victim for 4 months".
"There was no question of product placement at that time"
In the luxurious Hilton Paris Opéra hotel, in the 8th arrondissement, Magali Berdah therefore welcomed the press in the company of her lawyer, Maître Antonin Gravelin-Rodriguez.
The opportunity for him to come back to the facts and the age of the damage suffered by his client.
The cyberbullying case begins on May 17, according to the lawyer, at the time of the publication of the minutes which contained several personal information of Magali Berdah.
"You know who published these excerpts," suggests the lawyer.
We understood it, it is the account of Booba, to date followed by 5.8 million subscribers on Twitter.
"There was no question of product placement at that time," recalls Me Antonin Gravelin-Rodriguez.
From this publication, a complaint is filed in Paris for the following charges: threats including death and religious affiliation, defamation, public insult, malicious telephone calls and harassment.
The National Pole of Online Hate (PNHL) is taking up the case directly.
"We are not joking and the Paris prosecutor's office has taken up this case seriously", underlines Magali Berdah's lawyer.
A whole week of raid
Over the past four months, again according to Magali Berdah's lawyer, the facts have been repeated more than 200 times.
"That's two tweets a day and has generated more than 100,000 hate messages against Magali Berdah or her relatives", account Me Antonin Gravelin-Rodriguez, who also remembers the organization of "Berdah gate week" , mid-July.
“This week has accentuated the harassment suffered by Magali Berdah”.
In all, 10 complaints and additional complaints were filed by Magali Berdah for harassment and related offences.
According to the lawyer, "the author of the digital raid" has invaded Magali Berdah's entire private sphere.
His children would also have been victims, until the aggression of one of them in the streets of Paris.
A complaint for "attempted extortion" was also filed by his lawyer, as well as for "use of the identification data of others with a view to undermining the peace of honor" due to the disclosure of his personal address by “an account followed by 120,000 people”.
Finally, a complaint for defamation was filed in July, as well as a last one on September 12 after the disclosure of information on the press conference by rapper Booba.
This adds five complaints to the ten already filed.
"If we have initiated all these procedures, it is because we want to protect Magali Berdah and allow her to live freely and peacefully in this country without having to suffer the hatred of people who speak behind their screens", explains her lawyer. .
The bad megaphone
Tears in her eyes, her voice quavering, Magali Berdah takes her turn to speak.
“I know you're here to talk about influencers, and I understand.
There is a real danger in the excesses that have existed for a long time, ”says the boss of Shauna Events, who promises to work with the competent authorities to put in place rules.
“It is a serious and important subject, but it is carried by a stalker”, regrets Magali Berdah, who regrets living today “at the pace of a man”.
The tears rise when the latter assures: "I will not be silent, I will remain standing".
For Magali Berdah and her lawyer, the fight against influencers has legitimacy, but can no longer have the same spokesperson.
"Today, that the fight to regulate influencers can be embodied by an individual who commits cyberbullying, is a problem for us", assures Maître Antonin Gravelin-Rodriguez.
A complaint for "organized gang scam" against X
For its part, justice opened an investigation on Monday for “deceptive commercial practices” against Shauna Events, following the complaint made by Booba.
It also concerned “an organized gang scam”, but only the first qualification was retained.
The complaint also mentions a "system fueled by the passivity of social networks and particularly Instagram and Snapchat used by influencers to promote scams".
Several scams are referenced there: merchandise not received and not refunded, non-compliant products, etc.
According to Magali Berdah's lawyer, "there is an obvious judicial imbalance between these files", but he assures that the agent is at the disposal of justice to answer them.
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Justice
Influencer
Cyber harassment
Harassment
Booba
Social networks