Entertainment firm ComediHa! to take over some Just for Laughs assets

CBC

29 May 2024 at 7:08 pm·1-min read

Back in March, a spokesperson for the Just for Laughs festival called the company's financial situation 'unsustainable.' (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press - image credit)

Entertainment firm ComediHa! says it has acquired select assets from the financially troubled Montreal comedy giant Just for Laughs.

In a news release issued by the Quebec City-based company Wednesday, it says the agreement is subject to approval of the Quebec Superior Court, and the hearing is set for Monday.

Until then, both parties have agreed to refrain from public commentary on the matter, the news release says.

Groupe Juste pour rire inc., the parent company of the festival and several other comedy-related businesses, announced in March that it is cancelling its summer festival, is insolvent and seeking creditor protection.

Documents made public by an insolvency trustee, PwC, showed Just for Laughs and affiliated companies owe millions of dollars in unpaid debt beyond what was included in a court filing last week.

A week before it sought creditor protection, a bailiff seized more than $800,000 in assets from Groupe Juste pour rire inc. after it failed to make a court-ordered payment to a former employee.

ComediHa! was founded by Sylvain Parent-Bedard and has offices in Quebec City, Montreal, Paris and Los Angeles. It hosts festivals across the province, as well as in France and the United States.

After Just for Laughs said it would cancel its summer festival programming, ComediHa! announced its own Montreal festival would take place in July.

This is not the first time the company has set its sights on Just for Laughs assets.

Back in 2017, when Just for Laughs founder Gilbert Rozon announced he would sell all his shares amid sexual harassment and assault allegations, ComediHa! stated publicly it was among those studying the possibility of purchasing the company.

At that time, ComediHa! said it was essential that the company retain ownership based in Quebec.

NextShark
74-year-old woman dies after being shoved in front of San Francisco train
Corazon Dandan died after being pushed into an oncoming BART train at San Francisco’s Powell Street Station at around 11 p.m on Monday night. The suspect, 49-year-old Trevor Belmont, also known as Hoak Taing, was arrested at the scene and booked into the San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of homicide and elder abuse. Dandan, who was Filipino American, was a dedicated telephone operator at the Westin St. Francis and other hotels.
The Independent
A couple rented an Airbnb from a ‘friendly’ landlord. Then they wound up dismembered in a suitcase
Michael Lee Dudley seemed like a typical Washington homeowner – until three teenagers stumbled across a suitcase of horrors on a beach
The Telegraph
Horrifying moment husband wheels suitcase containing murdered wife from home while carrying child
A husband who strangled his wife in front of her two children and lover on a video call was captured wheeling the suitcase containing her body out of his home.
The Independent
Mother-of-two dies in freak accident in front of family after clothes snag on cable car over Italian valley
Margerita Lega plummeted almost 500ft to her death after being dragged over a cliff edge
The Telegraph
Crocodile kills girl, 12, who was ‘cooling off’ in water
The body of a 12-year-old girl has been found in remote northern Australia, two days after she was attacked by a crocodile.
Associated Press
Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong asks for a lesser sentence in landmark security case
Prominent activist Joshua Wong asked for a lesser sentence in court Friday after he earlier pleaded guilty in Hong Kong's biggest national security case. Wong was one of 47 activists charged in 2021 under a Beijing-imposed national security law with conspiracy to commit subversion for their involvement in an unofficial primary. The activists were accused of attempting to paralyze Hong Kong’s government and topple the city’s leader by aiming to win a legislative majority and using it to block city budgets indiscriminately.
The Independent
Man tortured and starved girlfriend’s children because he ‘didn’t want them to have to poop’
The children had been subject to malnourishment, restrainment with zip ties and beatings before their neglect was reported to CPS
The Telegraph
Woman murdered elderly parents four years before remains found
A woman has admitted murdering her parents and living in a property with their dead bodies for four years.
People
Newborn Baby Found Still Attached to Unconscious Mom on Grass Outside Hotel, Both Parents Charged
A Good Samaritan found the baby and cared for it while waiting for paramedics
The Independent
Australian police find remains of missing child after suspected crocodile attack
Child went missing after going for a swim near the remote Northern Territory community of Palumpa
People
American Airlines Flight Makes Emergency Landing After Passenger Allegedly Exposes Himself, Urinates in Aisle
American Eagle flight 3921 made the emergency landing on July 3 “due to a disruptive customer," the airline tells PEOPLE
People
Mom's Boyfriend Allegedly Got Frustrated When Her Son, 1, Couldn't Walk by Himself. Now He's Charged with Murder
Christian Moniz Rabino, 28, has been charged with first-degree murder and two counts of child neglect and abuse
Storyful
'All Illegal': SF Fire Department Issues Pre-July Fourth Fireworks Warning
The San Francisco Fire Department has reminded the public why all fireworks are illegal in the city, ahead of July Fourth celebrations, with a video from June 30 showing “just how fast” fires caused by pyrotechnics can spread.The video was recorded in MacLaren Park and shows a firework landing on the grass there. Seconds later, sparks ignite and fire starts spreading.Local media reported that three acres were burnt in the incident. The fire was “quickly contained” by the fire department, they said.The fire department reminded locals that “all fireworks in San Francisco, including the so-called safe and sane fireworks, are illegal” because they cause “countless injuries, hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage, and, in some cases, deaths.” Credit: San Francisco Fire Department via Storyful
The Independent
Predator teacher Rebecca Joynes caught smirking as she buys teenage victim £350 Gucci belt before sex
Paedophile teacher seen smiling at 15-year-old boy in shop CCTV hours before abusing him
The Independent
Off-duty deputy shoots dead family’s 3-year-old dog in front of horrified homeowner after the pup gets loose
After Cash the rottweiler was shot, the off-duty officer allegedly ran back with medical supplies, but the dog had already been rushed to the vets
The Independent
Jay Slater missing - latest: Teenager’s mother says search is ‘no holiday’ in fervent response to trolls
Investigation into Jay Slater’s disappearance continues
AFP News
Jailed separatist, Kashmir leader sworn into India parliament
A Sikh separatist and a Kashmiri politician temporarily left jail Friday to be sworn into India's parliament after both men won resounding victories in last month's election from behind bars.Rashid was temporarily released from jail in Delhi for his swearing-in, which was later confirmed in a post on his Facebook page.
CNN
Israel approves largest West Bank land seizure in three decades, rights group says
Israel’s government has approved a large land seizure in the occupied West Bank – the biggest since the 1993 Oslo Accords set out a path for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, according to the Israeli rights group Peace Now.
Sky News
Rebecca Joynes: Teenager who fathered child with jailed teacher says he loved her after being 'coerced and controlled'
A teenage boy who fathered a child with jailed teacher Rebecca Joynes has told how he loved her but now understands the "full extent of the abuse carried out on me". The teenager, who can be identified only as boy B, gave a victim impact statement after Joynes was jailed for six-and-a-half years on Thursday. Boy B has said he was "coerced and controlled" by Joynes before having sex with her, and believes a teenage girl who was abused by a male teacher would have been given more support after the ordeal.
Sky News
Two men jailed for raping girl, 16, in north London
Two men have been jailed for raping a teenage girl in north London. Adilson Domingos, 42, from West Ham, and 29-year-old Baxton Atenis, from Tottenham, were found guilty in February after a three-week trial at Wood Green Crown Court. On Monday, Atenis was handed a 13-year prison sentence - and Domingos was jailed for 12 years.

Latest stories