French star Patrick Bruel charged with rape and sexual assault

Singer and actor has denied all charges after more than 20 women came forward with allegations going back to the 1990s

The French singer Patrick Bruel has been charged with rape and sexual assault in one of the biggest #MeToo cases in the French music industry.

The 67-year-old, a major figure in French pop culture, was placed under formal investigation over several cases that included alleged rape, attempted rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment.

The Nanterre prosecutor’s office said Bruel had been questioned on Wednesday over cases relating to nine alleged victims between 2000 and 2019. Complaints from another 13 women accusing him of rape, attempted rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment from 1992 to 2008 had been added to the file handed to investigating magistrates, even if they “appeared to be beyond the statute of limitations at this stage”, the office said.

Bruel’s lawyers said he denied all charges. The singer was released on bail in the early hours of Thursday.

Bruel’s pop career took off in the 1990s with several top-selling albums. His face was routinely on the cover of teen magazines and his screaming fans were described as being in thrall to “bruelmania”. At the height of his fame, French media often described him admiringly as a “seducer” or “Don Juan”. He acted in dozens of films and in 1998 was briefly a world poker champion and continued to to be a regular on TV chat shows.

The investigative website Mediapart and the magazine Elle published a series of accusations by women against Bruel in recent months, some detailing alleged assaults dating back to the 1990s.

Bruel, whose lawyers told Mediapart, he denied “all allegations of violence, brutality or constraint” had continued acting on stage in a Paris until recent days and had intended to continue his concert tour across France . But he faced protests by feminist campaigners, and the mayors of big cities such as Marseille, Paris and Nancy urged him to cancel his concerts, resulting in him calling off the tour.

Bruel attended a police station by appointment earlier this week and was charged on Wednesday night after hours of questioning by judges.

The women who spoke out against Bruel in recent months include Daniela Elstner, the current director of Unifrance, a key cultural institution which promotes French cinema abroad.

Separately, the lawyer Myriam Guedj Benayoun said this week she had filed a new complaint against Bruel for the alleged attempted rape of a 19-year-old woman at his home in 2000. The woman, who is now a 46-year-old actor, had taken part in filming for a music video with Bruel. Bruel’s lawyers said he denied all allegations.

Bruel is the latest French celebrity to face sexual assault claims. The actor Gérard Depardieu , 76, was given an 18-month suspended sentence last year after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women, a set dresser and an assistant director, during the shooting of the feature film Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters) in Paris in 2021. The judge ruled that his name must be added to the sex offender register in France.

Depardieu’s appeal will be heard in November. He has also been ordered to stand trial on charges of raping and sexually assaulting the actor Charlotte Arnould at his Paris home in 2018. He denies the charges.