Former Globo director Marcius Melhem faces criminal charges of sexual harassment

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The Public Prosecutor of Rio de Janeiro (MP-RJ) filed, this Tuesday afternoon, 8, the first official complaint against Marcius Melhem, former head of humor of Globo, for sexual harassment. Prosecutor Isabela Jourdan, whose performance in the case is questioned by the defendant’s defense in the Supreme Federal Court (STF), approved the complaint. The decision has yet to be ratified by the judge in the case, Juliana Benevides de Barros Araújo.

Among the victims is the actress Carol Portes, who had already denounced being harassed by Melhem, then creator, actor and final editor of the program “Tá no Ar”, broadcast by TV Globo. In addition to Carol Portes, the complaint is based on the testimony of actress Georgiana Góes and another employee, MTCL, who preferred that her identity be preserved.

The allegations were made by eight women and gained notoriety when actress Dani Calabresa, one of the best-known victims, denounced the former director. However, Calabresa’s complaint, which caused more public repercussions, was dismissed, according to Veja magazine. Despite this, the Public Prosecutor has decided to proceed with three other files that are part of the same investigation.

Globo disputes sexual harassment

At the time of the allegations, Rede Globo carried out its own internal investigation and maintains that the alleged sexual harassment has not been proven by the Compliance department of the broadcaster and by the Federal Public Prosecutor, ruling out the hypothesis. The company is currently facing a lawsuit brought by the Rio de Janeiro Public Ministry of Labor (MPT-RJ), which claims it has allowed workplace harassment cases in recent years. This information was revealed in a 2,500-page document obtained by Veja magazine and published last May.

After evaluating the materials presented both for and against Marcius Melhem, Globo Compliance concluded, according to the document, that “the inadequacy of the artist with his subordinates remained verified, without it being possible to prove the deliberate practice of sexual harassment, given the juridical contours that the conduct requires for its characterization”.

Controversy involving the promoter

Marcius Melhem said during a live broadcast in July that the accusers would hold a “secret meeting” with Luciano Mattos, the attorney general of the Rio de Janeiro public prosecutor’s office. He claims that the meeting would have favored the choice of a new prosecutor, Isabela Jourdan da Cruz Moura, after two years of work without having found merit to accept the complaint of harassment. Melhem’s defense took the matter to the Supreme Federal Court (STF).

According to the lawyers of the former director of Globo, Jourdan’s choice violates the principle of the natural prosecutor, which establishes that the prosecutor must be first in the ranking by seniority in the respective entry or promotion. The request has been in the hands of Minister Gilmar Mendes since 17 July. If the minister accepts the complaint, the prosecutor’s action can be canceled.

In response, the prosecutor said that the meeting did indeed take place, but it was not secret.

“There has been no secret meeting in relation to the case, which is the subject of a police investigation. They have requested a hearing with the Attorney General with the numerous victims. They have asked for speed in the analysis by the institution”, he informs the official statement. Furthermore, the agency confirmed that there was no inconsistency in the selection of the new prosecutor. “The designation was made on the basis of internal laws and regulations, which attribute such powers to the PGJ, without violating the natural attorney,” he said.

Since it was launched, the investigation has already had four different proxies and changed prosecutor three times, without being able to formalize a complaint.

The prosecutor rejects the delegate’s opinion

According to Veja magazine, Jourdan’s first attitude was to request the electronic submission of the documents found at the Rio de Janeiro Women’s Assistance Police Station (DEAM). The head of the investigation, Alriam Miranda Fernandes, had promised behind the scenes that she would give a report to take position on the investigation, without giving in to any kind of pressure. Thus, the complaint filed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office against Melhem renounced the opinion of the delegate in charge of the investigation.

In addition, Jourdan launched another investigation against Melhem within the prosecutor’s office, outside the Deam investigation records. According to an official note from the MPRJ, a Criminal Investigation Procedure (PIC) was established on his orders to investigate cases of psychological violence. According to the MPRJ, the complaint was sent there by the public prosecutor of São Paulo.

Meet the actress who detailed the sexual harassment allegation against Marcius Melhem

Melhem’s defense

Melhem’s defense has not yet commented on the sexual harassment complaint filed Tuesday afternoon. Regarding the PIC case, through a statement, his lawyers said they were unaware of the investigation, adding the following:

“We can only imagine that this is yet another attempt to survive the false accusations made in Inquérito 912-01533/2021, which is about to turn three years old and in which Marcius Melhem refuted, with abundant evidential content, each of the accusations that , had there been any such misconduct on Melhem’s part in the course of the investigation, such deflection should be brought before the Natural Court, where there is a protective measure preventing him from making any contact, by any means, with the alleged victims, this was not done”.

start of the case

The Melhem case came to light in December 2019, in a note from journalist Leo Dias. In March 2020, Grupo Globo’s compliance committee acquitted the comedian of the charges. Even so, the company terminated its contract with the station’s department head at the time, releasing a giveaway text on the pro in August.

In October 2020, the allegations against Melhem ceased to be rumors and took on the weight of a complaint from a lawyer, Mayra Cotta, who presented herself as a representative of the allegedly harassed women on the pages of the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper. In December, the magazine Piauí published the first report on the case, full of detailed information – some debunked – on cases of harassment by Melhem against former employees, in particular Dani Calabresa.

The publication generated social anger against Melhem, who filed a lawsuit against the magazine, the lawyer, Calabresa and several fellow comedians who called him an abuser. The case attracts special attention due to this detail. It was not the alleged victims, but the defendants who decided to clarify things by making an out-of-court interpellation with Dani Calabresa in December 2020 to confirm or deny the content of the article by Piauí magazine, which does not cite sources or use statements in quotation marks . It was only after the lawyer filed a harassment prosecution against the comedian.

Melhem then began to give interviews and to present the messages exchanged with Calabresa as proof of his version of events. The messages presented to Folha and the Record network showed that the two maintained an intimate and friendly relationship between 2017 and 2019, a period in which, according to Piauí magazine, he allegedly morally and sexually harassed the actress.

Two days later, Calabresa’s defense filed a lawsuit to prevent the disclosure of the lyrics and audio, and with a non-pecuniary claim for Melhem who had revealed private conversations. The allegation is that the actress was seeing her “intimate life devastated”. Additionally, the plaintiffs’ defense alleged that bits and pieces were being taken out of context and used to try to embarrass them.

Almost two years passed, but Justice rejected Calabresa’s request, giving Melhem the right to defend himself in the media, where he was attacked.

Process difficulty

Although the investigation initially filed reports of eight women, one of those involved said she never came forward as a victim. Suzana Pires said she was only one witness willing to continue cooperating, which narrowed the charges to seven. The deputy ended up discarding other allegations, including Dani Calabresa.

Second I waitthe accusers represented by the lawyer Mayra Cotta found themselves faced with the challenge of proving the consistency of the allegations made.

The situation includes a very complex issue discussed in the media. However, the lack of similar cases for judicial analysis in Brazil makes the process even more difficult.

Source: Terra

Amanda

I am Amanda Gans, a motivated and ambitious professional in the news writing industry. With over five years of experience in this field, I have developed an eye for detail and an ability to craft stories that captivate readers. I currently write for Gossipify, where I specialize in beauty & celebrities news. My passion lies with exploring the world of beauty through writing, interviewing experts and developing articles that are both informative and entertaining.