One of the best-known French show business stars, Patrick Bruel, has been placed under judicial investigation for several counts of rape and sexual abuse, the latest fallout from the Me Too movement.
After two days in police custody in Nanterre, in the western suburbs of Paris, the 67-year-old singer and actor was presented Wednesday evening before a panel of four judges.
They confirmed the request of the public prosecutor for Bruel to be indicted in several cases of rape, attempted rape and sexual assault and harassment.
Bruel has always denied the accusations against him. The judges released him under judicial supervision, rejecting the prosecutor’s request that he remain in detention.
This indictment means that an investigating judge will now look into the charges against Bruel, whose lawyers will have access to the prosecution’s file.
In most cases, the procedure results in a trial.
In French law, rape is defined as “any non-consensual act of penetration”.
Feminist activists reacted to the news with satisfaction.
The Bruel affair comes at a time of heightened sensitivity in France regarding the judicial treatment of sexual offenses, following the murder of an 11-year-old girl called Lyhanna, whose alleged killer had been the subject of several previous denunciations for abuse.
Alongside actor Gérard Depardieu, Bruel is the most famous French personality targeted by accusations of sexual abuse.
Depardieu, 77, was given a suspended sentence last year for sexual assault on a film set and he is appealing the conviction.
Born Patrick Benguigui in Algeria in 1959, Bruel rose to fame in the early 1980s with songs like Fed up with this girl (I’ve had enough of this chick). His loud voice and dark, brooding looks led to a wave of what was at the time called Bruelmania.
He has also appeared in over 30 films and recently took the stage in a theater production in Paris.
Bruel’s final performances were canceled due to the allegations, as were most dates of a planned concert tour in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada. This will definitely not happen from now on.
The singer had been the subject of a previous series of complaints for sexual harassment, but these were closed in 2020 for lack of evidence.
In May this year, investigative site Mediapart reported that around 30 women had told similar stories of harassment or assault, many of which took place on film locations or off-stage at concert halls.
Last month, the accusers were joined by famous TV and radio presenter Flavie Flament, who claimed that in 1991 – when she was 16 and he was 32 – the singer drugged and raped her at his Paris home.
The Flament case was not among the nine cases cited by the judges because the alleged crime occurred too long ago. However, the public prosecutor had requested that this allegation, along with 12 other older allegations, be re-examined for possible inclusion in the charges.
Bruel has denied the allegations. According to French media, he recently declared to his “entourage” that “I may have been harsh… but I always took no for an answer.”
In an Instagram post last month, the singer said he had never “forced himself on a woman” in his life.
“I have also never drugged, manipulated or attempted to subjugate anyone…or used my fame to abuse or obtain non-consensual relationships,” he said.