Film industry rocked by historical rape allegations

French director Benoit Jacquot has been accused of rape by actress Judith Godrèche. The case dates back 38 years.

Judith Godrèche was 14 years old when she alleged that Jacquot raped her. The underage actress lived with the 40-year-old Jacquot for six years. She appeared in two of his films: "Les Mendiants" ("The Beggars") in 1988 and "La Désenchantée" ("The Disenchanted") in 1999. "It was a definite offense, at least in the eyes of the law... I don't think I had the right to be with a girl like her, Judith, who was 15 while I was 40. So what? I didn't care, and as for her, I'd say she was very excited by it," the director said in a recent interview. This prompted Judith Godrèche to reveal the rape incident.

As we reported, the actress revealed her story in a letter published in "Le Monde" at the beginning of this year. "I threw up. I panicked. There was no consent. At 14, you are not excited about sleeping with a 40-year-old guy," she admitted in response to the director's rant about their sick relationship.

After the actress's reports, the French prosecutor's office took up the case. On July 1, news spread globally about the arrest of Benoit Jacquot and Jacques Doillon, who also allegedly sexually assaulted Godrèche. The men were placed in temporary detention.

The now 51-year-old woman claims that no one in the French film industry reacted when the 39-year-old Jacquot got involved with her at 14 years old and wholly controlled her. She accused Doillon of forcing her to perform 45 takes of sex scenes not included in the script. She was 15 at the time.

What happened after the men were detained? According to "Variety" and French media, Jacquot was under judicial supervision, while Doillon was released for health reasons. The prosecutor's office wants to charge them with rape. Jacquot will likely also face charges for other instances of sexual violence. "Le Monde" reports that the director harmed two actresses – Julia Roy and Isild Le Besco. The events allegedly occurred between 2013 and 2018 for Roy and between 1998 and 2000 for Le Besco.

Doillon is accused of raping Joe Rohanne, a nonbinary person who uses male pronouns today. After the rape, Rohanne miscarried but did not break off the relationship with Doillon. Another rape occurred when Doillon assaulted Rohanne at night after he had taken sleeping pills. The second pregnancy resulted in the birth of a daughter. After what the media describe today as numerous violent attacks, the couple eventually separated. Today, Rohanne openly talks about the sexual violence he experienced from Doillon. Neither he nor Benoit Jacquot has yet faced official charges from the prosecutor's office.