In May, actor Sand Van Roy accused French filmmaker Luc Besson (Lucy, Valerian) of raping her in a Paris hotel. Now, three more women have come forward to accuse the director of sexual misconduct.
In a new report from the French magazine Mediapart [via Variety], Besson has been accused of assaulting a casting director, sexually harassing an employee of his film company EuropaCorp and allegedly assaulting another actor. All three women have spoken out on the condition of anonymity.
Through a representative, Besson denied Van Roy's rape accusation and declined to comment on the other three accusations. His lawyer Thierry Marembert told Mediapart that he was working with authorities "so that his innocence can be proven."
Van Roy also spoke to Variety, sharing more details on the alleged abuse she suffered from Besson. After meeting the director during a costume fitting for Valerian, she met with him for writing advice on Olga, a film she has been working on since 2014.
"He basically used my movie to see me a lot, and once he established this basis of friendliness and trust, he made a move in a way that was coercive," she said. "He would talk about other girls, like 'she did that [thing to hurt me], so I did that to her.' I got a strong sense that, if I walked out, I would be blacklisted and never work again because he's done that to other girls, and every time I refused he would punish me directly or indirectly and make me feel guilty.
"You end up lowering your guard because he's like the reincarnation of Winnie the Pooh: He drinks tea, he never does drugs, and he talks about his wife and kids, he likes to cuddle, he dresses modestly," she continued. "And when you refuse to have sex with him, he makes you feel awful, like some superficial piece of junk, as if the only reason why you refused is because he doesn't look like Brad Pitt."
Of the alleged rape, Van Roy said she received a heavy blow to her back that made her lose consciousness. Last week, she went to French police to detail other alleged assaults on her from Besson.
As of press time, Luc Besson has not been formally charged for any crimes.
In a new report from the French magazine Mediapart [via Variety], Besson has been accused of assaulting a casting director, sexually harassing an employee of his film company EuropaCorp and allegedly assaulting another actor. All three women have spoken out on the condition of anonymity.
Through a representative, Besson denied Van Roy's rape accusation and declined to comment on the other three accusations. His lawyer Thierry Marembert told Mediapart that he was working with authorities "so that his innocence can be proven."
Van Roy also spoke to Variety, sharing more details on the alleged abuse she suffered from Besson. After meeting the director during a costume fitting for Valerian, she met with him for writing advice on Olga, a film she has been working on since 2014.
"He basically used my movie to see me a lot, and once he established this basis of friendliness and trust, he made a move in a way that was coercive," she said. "He would talk about other girls, like 'she did that [thing to hurt me], so I did that to her.' I got a strong sense that, if I walked out, I would be blacklisted and never work again because he's done that to other girls, and every time I refused he would punish me directly or indirectly and make me feel guilty.
"You end up lowering your guard because he's like the reincarnation of Winnie the Pooh: He drinks tea, he never does drugs, and he talks about his wife and kids, he likes to cuddle, he dresses modestly," she continued. "And when you refuse to have sex with him, he makes you feel awful, like some superficial piece of junk, as if the only reason why you refused is because he doesn't look like Brad Pitt."
Of the alleged rape, Van Roy said she received a heavy blow to her back that made her lose consciousness. Last week, she went to French police to detail other alleged assaults on her from Besson.
As of press time, Luc Besson has not been formally charged for any crimes.
