Yahoo Movies Luc Besson denies new accusations of sexual assault
New allegations of sexual assault are being levelled at French director Luc Besson by one of his former casting directors, and by two other women.
French investigative website Mediapart has reported that one of the women contacted French prosecutors last week with her allegations.
Besson is already being investigated by French police following a complaint filed against him in May this year, when a 27-year-old actress accused him of raping her.
The 59-year-old director of movies like Leon and The Fifth Element called those claims ‘fantasist accusations’ at the time.
One of the women who has come forward with new allegations says that Besson forced himself on her multiple times.
Speaking under the condition of anonymity, she said that she came forward after hearing about actress Sand Van Roy, who alleged in May that Besson drugged and raped her in a Paris hotel room.
“When I saw the complaint from Sand Van Roy, my legs trembled,” the woman told Mediapart.
“Frequently, Luc Besson asked me, in the presence of others, to give him a blowjob, which I systematically refused.
“Whenever we took the lift together, he kissed me by force, putting his tongue in his mouth, and although I pushed him away, he took me in his arms and touched my breasts and buttocks.”
Another former employee of Besson’s studio EuropaCorp has said that Besson made ‘sexual advances’ to her too.
“He listened when you said ‘no’ but you could never relax your guard because he would try again. Each time, he would try to push things further,” she added.
Meanwhile another actress told Mediapart that Besson arranged a callback meeting with her after meeting her in Los Angeles, and alleges that he ‘pounced on [her] like a bear’ at his Paris office.
She says that she escaped by dropping to the floor and crawling from the room.
Though AFP has reported that prosectors have received no new complaints, a rep for Besson said that he ‘categorically denies any type of inappropriate or reprehensible behaviour’.
“Mr Besson is reserving his answers for the investigators so that his innocence can be shown,” they added.
His production company added: “We fully support Luc Besson in this difficult period.”
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