Flavie Flament has announced that she will file a complaint against Patrick Bruel for rape.
After announcing the rape complaint against Patrick Bruel on Friday, May 15th, Flavie Flament gave an interview to Mediapart, in which she talks about the facts and the singer’s lawyers’ defense that leaves her “speechless.” She explained that the dozens of testimonies from women against him had encouraged her to testify without anonymity.
Regarding the rape accusations, which allegedly occurred in 1991 when the host was only 16 years old, the singer’s lawyers stated: “Indeed, there was an episodic and consensual relationship between them. She was 16 years old and at the time, nothing prohibited a relationship between a minor and an adult over 15 years old.” This defense left her feeling “shocked” and she claims to have “never had a relationship, of any kind, with Patrick Bruel, never.”
In an interview given on Saturday, May 16th, before Patrick Bruel publicly addressed the accusations, Flavie Flament said: “The price to pay, I know it, I have already paid it once, and I also know what awaits me.” Ten years ago, she accused photographer David Hamilton of rape.
She reiterated the facts she denounces: “At 16 years old, it is normally the age of first times. It is not the age of a rape in a Parisian apartment.” She described a “total blackout” after drinking in the singer’s apartment: “I have a very precise memory of the moment when I come out of that state, when I open my eyes. And then I see him, we are on his bed, and he is putting my pants back on.”
She continues: “And my thoughts are extremely powerful, they are astoundingly clear. However, my body does not respond, there is a gap, so it is an immense fear. And I absolutely do not understand what happened to me at that moment. But especially, I am realizing that he is dressing me, he is buttoning my pants, and he is in control.”
The Paris public prosecutor announced on Sunday, May 17th, that Patrick Bruel is the subject of four complaints in the Paris region, not including the one announced by television host Flavie Flament. According to an AFP report, three investigations are already open in France and Belgium.
