Gilbert Rozon (born October 26, 1954) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. His ...

and founder of the '' Just for Laughs'' (french: Juste pour Rire)

comedy festival A comedy festival is a celebration of comedy with many shows, venues, comedy performers (such as stand up comics, sketch troupes, variety performers, etc.) and is held over a specific block of time. Normally, each festival has a diverse range of c ...

, which he created on July 14, 1983. He is also responsible for the development and international deployment of the Just for Laughs/Juste pour Rire brand in over 150 countries. The Just for Laughs festival is considered the largest comedy festival in the world.

Early life and education

Gilbert Rozon is the eldest of seven children. Raised in Saint-André d'Argenteuil, he began working at a young age as a

paperboy A paperboy is someoneoften an older child or adolescentwho distributes printed newspapers to homes or offices on a regular route, usually by bicycle or automobile. In Western nations during the heyday of print newspapers during the early 20th ce ...

. At the age of 14 he became a

gravedigger A gravedigger is a cemetery worker who is responsible for digging a grave prior to a funeral service. Description If the grave is in a cemetery on the property of a church or other religious organization (part of, or called, a churchyard), ...

, salesman, printer, show organizer, publisher of telephone directories business, key to real estate, etc. It is in this context from his work experience that he developed his sense of humour. After a short stay in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

at age 20, he studied law at the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte- ...

where he graduated.

Career

In 1980, he founded the ''La Grande Virée'' ( en, The Grand Excursion) festival in

Lachute Lachute () is a town in southwest Quebec, Canada, northwest of Montreal, on the Rivière du Nord, a tributary of the Ottawa River, and west of Mirabel International Airport. It is located on Autoroute 50, at the junctions of Quebec Provincial ...

which welcomed more than 60,000 spectators in its first year and more than 80,000 in 1981. For its third year, Gilbert Rozon moved ''La Grande Virée'' to the

Pointe-aux-Trembles Pointe-aux-Trembles was a municipality, founded in 1674, that was annexed by Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1982. This was the last city to be merged into Montreal until the 2002 municipal reorganization. On January 1, 2002 this neighbourhood a ...

neighbourhood in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

. It was a failure. Despite the failure of his first festival in Montreal, Rozon borrowed more than C$1 million to found the '' Just for Laughs'' festival in 1983. The festival was based in Montreal, although spread to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Nantes and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. Rozon was the

Charles Trenet Louis Charles Augustin Georges Trenet (; 18 May 1913 – 19 February 2001) was a renowned French singer-songwriter who composed both the music and the lyrics to nearly a thousand songs over a career that lasted more than 60 years. These include ...

until his death. He was the producer of shows featuring

Laurent Ruquier Laurent Hugues Emmanuel Ruquier (; born 24 February 1963) is a French television presenter, radio host and comedian. He is also a lyricist, writer, columnist and impresario; he has been co-owner and general manager of Théâtre Antoine-Simone B ...

Franck Dubosc Franck Dubosc (; born 7 November 1963) is a French actor, comedian and stand-up artist. Dubosc occupies 94th place in the list of the most profitable actors of French cinema.

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, Florence Foresti,

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, Stéphane Rousseau,

Jean-Marc Parent Jean-Marc is a French masculine given name. It may refer to: * Jean-Marc Adjovi-Bocco (born 1963), Beninese former football player * Jean-Marc Ayrault (born 1950), French politician * Jean-Marc Barr (born 1960), French-American film actor and dir ...

Jean-Luc Lemoine Jean-Luc Marie Lemoine (born 6 March 1970) is a French humourist, media personality and stand-up comedian. Early life A native of Paris, Lemoine grew up in Morangis, Essonne. His first scene was on his high school stage, in front of 800 fellow s ...

Rachid Badouri Rachid Badouri (born October 16, 1976, in Laval, Quebec) is a Canadian comedian. Biography Badouri was born to immigrants of Moroccan Berber origin. He studied at College Montmorency in Laval, Quebec Laval (; ) is a city in Quebec, Cana ...

, André Sauvé, Christophe Alévêque, etc. Just for Laughs represents over 75 artists, over 200 hours of television broadcast in over 150 countries each year and hundreds of shows a year. For 25 years, Gilbert Rozon has been at the helm of the festival before giving way to Alain Cousineau with whom he founded the festival in 1983. He remains chairman and CEO of the group. Starting in 2006, he became a member of the jury on the French program, ''

La France a un incroyable talent ''La France a un incroyable talent'' ( en, France's Got Incredible Talent), previously known as ''Incroyable Talent'', is a French TV show, based on the ''Got Talent'' series. It debuted on M6 on 2 November 2006, presented by Alessandra Sublet ...

''.

Sexual assault allegations

In 1998, Gilbert Rozon received an unconditional discharge from the Quebec Superior Court after pleading and being found guilty of a sexual assault on a 19-year-old woman, because a criminal record would have made it difficult for him to travel internationally for his work. He was also accused of unlawful confinement of a 31-year-old woman but the charge was withdrawn by the police for lack of evidence. Groups of women expressed anger over sentencing they considered as being too lenient. On October 18, 2017, Rozon announced he was resigning from his position as the President of Just for Laughs as well as the vice-president of the Montreal Metropolitan Board of Trade, amid allegations of sexual misconduct. On December 15, 2020, following three years of lengthy, drawn out trials, he was cleared of all charges. Rozon is still the object of civil suits filed by six women, who claim he sexually assaulted them. The total amount claimed is in excess of $9-million.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rozon, Gilbert Living people 1954 births People from Laurentides People convicted of sexual assault Impresarios Université de Montréal alumni Businesspeople from Montreal Canadian company founders Canadian entertainment industry businesspeople Just for Laughs La France a un incroyable talent