Directors detained after sexual harassment allegations
The police detained Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon after Judith Godrèche accused them of violence and sexual harassment in February, thus igniting the French wave of #metoo.
According to French media, the two men are being questioned by the Paris branch of the French Juvenile Protection Brigade. Actress and director Judith Godrèche decided to publicize the sexual harassment she experienced in the film industry when she was a teenager this past February.
During the César Awards (the so-called French Oscars), she called on the French film industry to break the conspiracy of silence and stop protecting powerful men.
- I know it is terrifying to lose grants, roles, or jobs. I am also terrified. I dropped out of school when I was 15, I don't have a high school diploma, I have nothing. It would be very difficult to be blacklisted - she said then. She also added that fear had driven her for 30 years.
Judith Godrèche accuses of harassment and rape
Today, the 51-year-old woman claims that no one in the French film industry reacted when the then 39-year-old Jacquot became involved when she was only 14 and completely controlled her. She accused Doillon of forcing her to perform several explicit scenes that were not in the script. She was 15 at the time.
According to French law, suspects can be detained for up to two days. Both directors have hired lawyers and denied the allegations against them.
