- Judith Godreche, 52, accused Jacquot of rape and Doillon of sexual assault
- Benoit Jacquot, 77, and Jacques Doillon, 80, have each denied the allegations.
Prominent film directors Benoit Jacquot and Jacques Doillon have been detained by French police for questioning over allegations of sexual abuse, sources close to the case said.
Jacquot, 77, and Doillon, 80, were seen arriving at a Paris police station on Monday morning, accompanied by their lawyers.
Actress and director Judith Godreche formally accused Jacquot of rape and Doillon of sexual assault when she was a minor.
The 52-year-old described Jacquot as having an unhealthy “control” over her during a relationship with him that began when she was 14, from 1986 to 1992.
She accused Doillon of abuse on the set when she acted in one of his films. Both men denied the allegations.
Benoit Jacquot, 77, has denied the accusations made against him by actress and director Judith Godreche
Jacques Doillon, 80, has been accused of abuse by Godreche while on the set of one of his films. He denies the allegations
Fellow actor Isild Le Besco, 41, has also formally accused Jacquot of raping her between 1998 and 2007 during a toxic relationship that began when she was 16 and he was 52.
Actress Julia Roy, 34, also filed a complaint against him for sexual assault, in “a context of violence and moral coercion that lasted several years,” said a source close to the case.
The director’s lawyers said it had not been necessary to detain them for questioning and stressed that they should be considered innocent until proven guilty.
Jacquot’s lawyer, Julia Minkowski, said her client “will finally be able to express himself before the law.”
Doillon’s lawyer, Marie Dose, said no legal criteria could justify his detention for questioning “36 years” after the incident reported by Godreche.
Sources close to the case said their questioning could include a confrontation with the person or people accusing them.
Godreche wrote on Instagram that she was deeply moved that the police had finally summoned the two directors.
“I’m crying… For all this… I don’t know if I have the strength, but I will. I will… For her,” she wrote, posting a photo of herself as a teenager with Jacquot, 25 years older than her. she.
Actress and director Judith Godreche has formally accused Jacquot of rape and Doillon of sexual assault when she was a minor.
“I’m crying… From all this… I don’t know if I have the strength but I will. I will… For her,” Godreche wrote on Instagram, posting a photo of her teenage self alongside Jacquot, 25 years her senior.
Godreche was 14 when she met Jacquot, then 39, in 1986 on the set of her film Les Mendiants.
The world reports that they continued to share an “intimate relationship” for six years.
The actress has since accused him of predatory behaviour and “violent rape of a minor under 15 years of age committed by a person in authority”.
The French film industry is reeling from accusations that it has covered up abuse for too long, even after a series of accusations against 75-year-old film legend Gerard Depardieu, all of which he denies.
Since breaking his silence, Godreche has become a leading voice in France’s #MeToo movement.
After she called for a film oversight body, parliament voted in May to create a commission to investigate sexual and gender-based violence in the film industry and other cultural sectors.
