French singer Patrick Bruel performs on stage at the Cité des Congres in Valenciennes, northern France, on December 20, 2019. FRANCOIS LO PRESTI / AFP
French prosecutors said on Wednesday, March 18, they have opened a rape investigation against star singer and actor Patrick Bruel and that another complaint has been registered. Bruel, 66, has faced past accusations of alleged sexual assault and harassment, but no charges have ever been brought. His lawyer has rejected the latest allegations.
Prosecutors in the Britanny town of Saint-Malo confirmed to AFP they have started a formal investigation into a woman's claims, made in September 2024, that she was allegedly raped during the British film festival in Dinard in October 2012 when Bruel was jury chairman.
Daniela Elstner, head of the Unifrance body that promotes French cinema, made a separate complaint last month over an alleged attempted rape and sexual assault, a source close to that inquiry told AFP. Elstner's lawyer confirmed the complaint.
The Mediapart news website, which revealed the cases, said that the new complaint concerned events that allegedly happened at a French film festival in Acapulco, Mexico in 1997 when Elstner was an assistant at Unifrance. She is now the director general.
