French star Patrick Bruel denies multiple sexual assault allegations | France
French singer and actor Patrick Bruel, who has been the subject of multiple rape allegations, said on Sunday that he would not walk away from his job by protesting his innocence.
The Paris prosecutor’s office announced early Sunday that Bruel was the subject of at least four sexual assault complaints in France and that the cases would be investigated together.
“I have never forced a woman,” Bruel said. In a statement shared on his Instagram page, he wrote:. “And if I hurt anyone, I sincerely regret it.”
Bruel, who has best-selling albums and appeared in more than 40 films, is also facing a separate investigation in Belgium after a complaint about an alleged sexual assault was filed in Brussels in March.
The 67-year-old actor, who starred in a play in Paris, is scheduled to start a concert tour on June 16 that will take him to Switzerland, Belgium and Canada, as well as France.
A petition supported by feminist groups is circulating calling for the concerts to be cancelled.
But Bruel stressed on Sunday that he “will continue to do my job with the same dedication and the same passion.”
French investigative news site Mediapart since March He published the allegations made by women Those who accused Bruel of sexual harassment and sexual assault.
Bruel’s statement on Sunday referred to the allegations made by television presenter Flavie Flament in Mediapart.
On Sunday, Bruel said their relationship was “neither violent, nor coercive, nor fraudulent.”
“I have never used my fame to harass anyone or engage in non-consensual relationships,” he wrote. “I understand that the age difference between us today can raise suspicion. I also understand that fame or status can distort a romantic relationship.”
He added: “For weeks, many voices have been calling for my public condemnation without a hearing, as if the number of accusations were enough to reveal the truth. It is up to the justice system, which I have full faith in, to shed light on these accusations; it has done so before. I will fight before it to defend the truth.”
Bruel’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain, previously told Agence France-Presse that the courts had already ruled on some of the allegations against his client. These include accusations of sexual harassment and assault against two massage therapists in 2019. Preliminary investigation closed due to lack of evidence.
The star is the latest among French film and music celebrities to face sexual assault allegations. Last year, cinema legend Gérard Depardieu was sentenced to an 18-month suspended prison sentence after being found guilty of sexually assaulting two women during a 2021 film shoot. The appeal will be heard in November.
