Patrick Bruel To Appear Before Judges On Sexual Misconduct Accusations

French star Patrick Bruel is set to appear before investigating judges in Paris on Wednesday for questioning related to multiple allegations of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment.

The hearing, announced by the Nanterre prosecutor’s office in a press release, is related to alleged offenses which took place between 2010 and 2019 involving nine victims.

Bruel has been in police detention since Monday for questioning on the allegations against him, and the prosecutor’s office has requested that the star be remanded in custody. The hearing will be the basis for deciding on whether official charges will be lodged.

The star’s detention and upcoming hearing come three months after an in-depth report by French investigative news website Mediapart detailing allegations by eight women who accuse Bruel of sexual violence between 1992 and 2019.

Among the cases featured was that of Daniela Elstner, managing director of French cinema and TV export agency Unifrance, who accused Bruel of sexually assaulting her on the fringes of the body’s French Film Festival in Acapulco, Mexico in 1997.

Elstner went public in 2017 with the fact she had been assaulted by a star early on in her career but still traumatised by the incident had never publicly revealed their identity or the details. The Mediapart investigation prompted her to file an official police report in a bold move which helped sparked further accusations.

French media reported that allegations by another 13 women which were either dismissed or for which the statute of limitations had passed are also being re-examined and have also been added to the investigatory file.

They include four 2019 official complaints by masseuses working in luxury spas across France which were dismissed at the time.

Bruel is a household name in France and French-speaking Belgium, Switzerland and Canada. His more than 60 film and TV credits include pictures such as Sabrina, The Best Is Yet To Come, A Bag of Marbles and What’s In A Name?, while he continues to tour as a singer.

The mounting allegations have seen Bruel’s star fall, forcing him to call off a French concert tour this summer while Canadian events organiser Gestev announced in May that it was cancelling three concert dates in Quebec scheduled for the end of the year.

In Paris, the Edouard-VII theater was forced to cancel the final performances of the play Deuxième Partie starring Bruel after the show was picketed by feminist groups.

Bruel’s lawyers Christophe Ingrain and Fanny Colin said in a statement on Monday that the star had consistently made it clear that he was “at the disposal of the justice system” to answer the allegations against within “the framework of the judicial procedure”.

Ingrain previously told Mediapart at the time of its initial investigatory report in March that Bruel had “never overridden a refusal” and “never forced anyone into a sexual act or relationship.”