English version
METOO – Stéphane Marsan – The Story So Far
February 6, 2020
The website of France Info (a French public 24/7 news radio channel) posts a long piece by Marion Botticelli and Catherine Fournier, the result of an in-depth investigation on sexual aggression and sexual harassment in the publishing industry.
Among the many cases mentioned is that of “a heavyweight of fantasy publishing, whom several of our witnesses accuse of sexual harassment.” His name is not mentioned, but members of the SF/F/H community have no trouble identifying him. According to the witnesses (who remain anonymous), one of his tactics is to try to obtain sexual favors from young writers who’ve submitted a manuscript to his house. One of them has resisted his advances: “He was supposed to publish me, and as soon as he realized he could never get me into his bed, the stories he’d judged so beautiful became pieces of shit. Thanks to him, I acquired an awful reputation in the community. Doors were suddenly closed to me, and I almost stopped writing.”
There was a lot of discussions in forums and social networks, but nothing came of it—except that some research on the web brought to light an 2018 report on sexual harassment from the same person in 2015, during the Romance Writers of America convention, where his name was revealed: Stéphane Marsan, publisher and editor at Éditions Bragelonne, a house he cofounded in 2000.
(Scroll down)
Writer Courtney Milan, then a member of the board of directors of RWA, contacted him, and she says he explained his behavior by “cultural differences.”
See this discussion on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/courtneymilan/status/1396937707067117569
April 21, 2021
More than one year later, French independent news site Mediapart posts another long piece, resulting from a more focused investigation. This time, the author, Ellen Salvi, names names. More than twenty women have been interviewed—writers, editors, students, translators, interns—and all allude to cases of sexual harassment or sexual aggression by Stéphane Marsan. Most of them remain anonymous, but some speak openly about incidents they’ve have witnessed or experienced: writers Catherine Dufour, Betty Piccioli and Samantha Bailly, former assistant editor Charlotte Oehler, and others.
Moreover, Ellen Salvi learnt that Stéphane Marsan was already under surveillance by the organizers of the yearly Imaginales festival, where he is a regular and takes part in “speed-datings” between editors and aspiring writers, a feature at the festival, and has been reported for inappropriate behavior.
The longest and most sustained story is that of “Jeanne,” who had submitted a first novel to Stéphane Marsan and to other publishing houses. After their last meeting, during which he insisted she signs with Bragelonne, she got a text message on her phone: “Just saw Miss Boobs. White, transparent top, with lace bra underneath. She’s got the knack of negotiating a contract!” Obviously, this message was meant to be sent to somebody else. “Juliette” signed with another publisher.
You can only access to the piece if you’re a subscriber, but the site offers a 15-day subscription for only € 1,00.
https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/france/210421/metoo-le-patron-d-une-maison-d-edition-mis-en-cause
You can freely access to this piece from the Actualitté website (a site devoted to literature and publishing news), one of the first reports, if not the first, on the Mediapart story.
April 22, 2021
Stéphane Marsan sends via his lawyer a “right of reply” piece to Mediapart and Actualitté, where he denies all accusations of sexual harassment or sexual aggression, claims that a lot of things have been taken out of context, and hints that he has identified all the witnesses who spoke anonymously.
April 28, 2021
Twenty or so professionals—writers, translators, editors, illustrators…—working in SF/F/H publishing launch a petition supporting the victims and calling for a halt of sexual harassment and sexual aggression in the publishing industry.
More initiatives follow during this period: the SELF (a writer’s union) announces it will pay legal fees to the victims if, as he’s announced he would, Stéphane Marsan decides to sue them for defamation; Stéphanie Nicot, of Imaginales festival, and writer Lionel Davoust publicly support the victims; some people, including writer/translator Sara Doke, announce they’re working on a Code of conduct for future festivals and conventions.
April 30, 2021
Still, all these reactions and initiatives take place inside the community. Mimy Haegel, of the website Madmoizelle, is the first to notice the silence of the general medias.
May 1, 2021
Marguerite Imbert, who spoke as “Jeanne” in the Mediapart investigation, decides to speak openly since Stéphane Marsan has strongly hinted he knew who she was. She is publicly supported by her publisher, Gilles Haéri, of Éditions Albin Michel.
May 8, 2021
More than 100 professionals of the publishing industry—not limited to SF/F/H categories— post an opinion column on the web. The news is relayed by the website of French daily newspaper Libération.
https://toutlemondesavait.wixsite.com/website
May 28, 2021
Mel Andoryss, Samantha Bailly, Sabrina Calvo, Cécile Duquenne, Mélanie Fazi, Betty Piccioli, Véronique Roméo and Marie Valente, eight writers who are published by Bragelonne, publicly ask for an internal investigation about Stéphane Marsan’s behavior. If nothing is done, they’ll walk away.
June 6, 2021
Writer Sabrina Calvo, whose novel Wonderful was scheduled to be reprinted by Bragelonne, announces she’s decided to withdraw it.
June 10, 2021
Some English-speaking members of the SF/F/H community have been relaying the news for quite some time now, including Aliette de Bodard on twitter. The June, 2020 issue of Locus features a brief story about it, which is then posted on the magazine’s website.
https://locusmag.com/2021/06/french-editor-accused-of-harassment/
June 15, 2021: Where are we now?
I’ve been following this story since the beginning, and, given the developments since April 2021, several things have struck me:
— Except for his “right of reply”, Stéphane Marsan has stayed silent. Said “right of reply” shows he is on denial mode, when he doesn’t resort to innuendo and threats. His most notable reaction was to denounce a plot motivated by professional jealousy.
— To this day, there has been no public statement from Éditions Bragelonne. According to some reports, two members of the staff have resigned. Stéphane Marsan has apparently closed his twitter account; his facebook account is only accessible to his friends.
— Given the fact that the initial stories came from two respected general medias (France Info in 2020 and Mediapart in 2021), the silence from most of these medias since then has been nothing short of stunning. Granted, the pandemic is still front-page news, but other recent cases have nonetheless been well covered—of course, the persons involved enjoy some notoriety, and Stéphane Marsan is unknown outside the SF/F/H community, which, in a way, is still a ghetto in France.
— The two main websites devoted to SF/F/H news in France have unfailingly covered the story since its inception, and it has been discussed in their forums. If you read French, I recommend you visit them:
ActuSF:
Elbakin:
Texte : Jean-Daniel Brèque, juin 2021.