Stéphane Plaza should have initially been tried last August, but his trial was postponed until this Thursday, January 9, 2025. We therefore suggest that you reread this article to understand the issues at stake in the trial.
Playing on his proximity to the public, Stéphane Plaza has become one of the French’s favorite presenters, at the head of a network of real estate agencies in his name. Even accusations of violence from ex-partners which could reveal a darker personality.
The 54-year-old star host of M6 will thus be judged from Thursday in Paris for “habitual physical and/or psychological violence by a partner” against one of his former partners, as well as for “habitual psychological violence by cohabitant” on another woman. The accusations against him began in September 2023, with the publication by Mediapart of testimonies from three former partners denouncing “humiliation, threats, verbal and, for two of them, physical violence”. Accusations that are the polar opposite of his character on the small screen, clumsy and warm.
In response, he said he had “a clear conscience”. The one who often describes himself as “sensitive”, particularly when mentioning his deceased mother, multiplies the ribald jokes on the air and was singled out for sexist remarks by the Superior Council of Belgian Audiovisual in 2017. He is also appeared naked in several shows, under the guise of humor.
From his first appearances in “Research apartment or house” in 2006 on M6, where he spent his entire media career, Stéphane Plaza created a great proximity with the candidates and the public. This son of a florist from the Paris region, who did not obtain the baccalaureate, laughs at his clumsiness. “Pierre Richard, in The Goatit’s me,” he confides to Monde on May 2023.
No personality defends him more publicly
At the same time, in 2015, Stéphane Plaza created a network of real estate agencies in his name, associated with the two founders of the Laforêt chain and M6, which owns 51% of the shares. Stéphane Plaza Immobilier now has some 660 franchises in France. He also launched a magazine (Welcome homepublished by Prisma), comic strips in which he is the hero, played comedy in the theater and in television dramas.
For several months, the host has not published photos of his friends from M6 or the “Grosses Têtes” from RTL (owned by M6), including Laurent Ruquier, Karine Le Marchand or “Jeanfi” Janssens, and the latter did not respond to requests from AFP, just like M6, RTL and Réservoir Prod. The channel, with which he is committed until 2028, also refused to indicate whether filming of its shows is continuing.
As the criminal trial approaches, no personality is more publicly defending Stéphane Plaza, as Karine Le Marchand, the presenter of “L’Amour est dans le pré”, did when the scandal broke out. From now on, the host retreats into silence. “Devastated” by the proceedings against him, he is “not in the mood” for interviews, his lawyer Hélène Plumet told AFP.
