Actress Hafsia Herzi Fined for Racial Slur in Ride-Share Dispute

Found guilty in this case, the actress admits to having made such remarks but accuses the driver of having initiated this procedure for money, reports Le Point.

Solicited in 2017 in Paris to help the actress run an errand, the VTC driver was subjected to Hafsia Herzi’s reproaches. He had refused to drop her off at the indicated location on the grounds that the new route proposed by the young woman no longer suited him. He claims to have accepted the night ride because he was on the way to his home and was finishing his shift. To this end, the driver offered Hafsia Herzi to drop her off at her home before returning home. Contacted again by the young woman to drop her off in the suburbs, the driver refused.

"That’s when the insults fly, in particular: dirty Arab," specifies the same media. A complaint was filed at the police station a few days later by the driver who quickly authenticated the insults received by text message with a bailiff.

Acquitted at first instance, Hafsia Herzi is now certain of her fate. She will have to pay a fine of 500 euros for moral damages and a fine of 800 euros with a suspended sentence.

For the victim’s lawyer, Me Guillaume Mestre, one cannot use racial insults regardless of the origin of the defendant. "It is within the average of sanctions for an offense that falls under the district court," he estimates. For his part, Me Jérémy Assous, the actress’s lawyer, says he will appeal to the Supreme Court.