“Norman makes videos” was placed in police custody on Monday, December 5, as part of a preliminary investigation entrusted to the minors protection brigade. He is currently being questioned about corruption of minors and rape, involving several young women.
Norman Thavaud, third french youtuber with nearly 12 million subscribers, was placed in police custody on Monday, December 5, following a preliminary investigation opened by the Paris prosecutor’s office and entrusted to the brigade for the protection of minors (BPM). He is currently being questioned about corruption of minors and rape, involving several teenage girls and young women. The Paris prosecutor’s office confirms police custody at Release. Some are fans of the web star, and accuse him of facts of a different nature. For several months, the BPM of the Paris police headquarters has been trying to cross-check the multiple scenarios described.
In August 2018, the name of Norman Thavaud, at this stage presumed innocent, was cited in the #BalanceTonYoutubeur wave following a tweet from Lucas Hauchard, alias Squeezie, the French number 1 (17.6 million subscribers to date), denouncing the inappropriate behavior of certain videographers who “take advantage of the psychological vulnerability of young subscribers to obtain sexual intercourse”. Drowned in the mass of testimonies, these accusations had remained a dead letter.
Six potential victims questioned by the justice
On July 8, 2020, Maggie Desmarais, a 16-year-old Quebec fan at the time of the events, accused her on Instagram, with screenshots of messages in support, of having manipulated her to obtain character photos and videos. sex, sent by Snapchat, and to have exerted a psychological influence in 2018. He was then 31 years old. After filing a complaint in the summer of 2020, she testified openly and on video on the site Urbania, where she mentioned a “unhealthy little game of emotional attachment. I was young, I admired him, I fell easily into the trap.. She also announced that she had been contacted by around thirty young women who had had a similar experience with the youtuber. According to information from Release, five other potential victims were also questioned by the courts. With the exception of Maggie Desmarais, all could have been raped. Two were minors at the time.
“Norman Makes Videos” is a first-generation icon who grew up with the internet. Like Cyprien, Mister V or Hugo Tout Seul, he is a pioneer of the “podcast”, this form of sketches featuring the banalities of daily life, adapted to the codes of the Internet and YouTube. After more than a decade of solo career, his channel peaks at nearly 12 million subscribers and 2.7 billion views. He continues to post videos to this day, regularly reaching one million views, and also performed on stage before the Covid-19 interrupted the tour of his “Coming of Age Show”. Maggie Desmarais was summoned to France by the BPM and crossed the Atlantic for a confrontation with Norman Thavaud, which should take place on Tuesday.