French director Jacques Doillon calls abuse allegations ‘lies’
French director Jacques Doillon arrives for the screening of the film “Tout s’est Bien Passe” (Everything Went Fine) at the 74th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on July 7, 2021. The investigation into the rape of a minor by director Benoît Jacquot, opened on Feb. 7, 2024 following a complaint by actress Judith Godreche, also concerns Jacques Doillon, AFP learned on Feb. 8, 2024 from a source close to the case. VALERY HACHE / AFP
PARIS—French film director Jacques Doillon, swept up in a storm of #MeToo allegations by several actresses including Judith Godreche, denounced on Friday the “lies” and “false accusations” against him.
In a statement sent to AFP, he said he was at the disposal of the courts.
“That Judith Godreche and other women through her have the heart to denounce a system, an era, a society, is courageous, commendable and necessary,” said the director.
“But the justness of the cause does not authorize arbitrary denunciations, false accusations and lies.”
Godreche, 51, claimed Doillon, 79, took advantage of her while directing her in one of his films when she was 15. He was 29 years older at the time.
READ: The fight for women’s rights beyond #MeToo
Doillon and the director Benoit Jacquot were targeted this week by a complaint from Godreche, which prompted French prosecutors to open an investigation.
“I am watching with attention this upheaval, not to say this revolution, initiated and carried by women, whose voices have been freeing up for several years now,” Doillon said.
“However, I have never committed the acts of which I have been accused, and I will provide the courts, since the case is now before them, with all the factual elements at my disposal to demonstrate my innocence,” he added.
He also denied being close to Jacquot, who is facing accusations of abuse and violence by Godreche.
Jacquot, who is 25 years older than the actor, directed her on screen and had a six-year relationship with her that started when she was only 14.
