Blue Is The Warmest Colour director Abdellatif Kechiche investigated for sexual assault
Kechiche has been accused by an unnamed 29-year-old actress (JC Olivera/Getty)
Abdellatif Kechiche, director of lesbian love story Blue Is The Warmest Colour, is being investigated over an allegation of sexual assault.
An unnamed 29-year-old actress filed a complaint with authorities in Paris on October 6, according to French TV outlet BFMTV.
She claimed that she had no memories of the night of June 23-24 between consuming several glasses of alcohol given to her by a friend of the 57-year-old director in their 20th Arrondissement flat and waking up on the couch.
Kechiche with Lea Seydoux and Adele Exarchopoulos (Gareth Cattermole/Getty)
When she regained consciousness, she claimed her trousers were open and Kechiche was fondling her.
A lawyer representing the director, who won a Palme d’Or for the 2013 film, has said he “categorically denies the veracity of these accusations.”
Blue Is The Warmest Colour star Léa Seydoux spoke out about her “awful” experience filming the lesbian drama.
The film was given a Palme d’Or (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty)
The French actress, who also featured in Bond film Spectre, said she would never again work with Kechiche, whose detail-oriented approach often led her and co-star Adèle Exarchopolous to run through as many as 100 takes per scene.
Speaking in 2015, she said the film was a male fantasy of a lesbian romance, adding: “It’s bound to be if a man makes a film about two women. But it’s a film that has its own truth, its own power.”
She added of Kechiche: “He’s not someone I detest. I sometimes dream about him – but I’m not mad at him.”
Kechiche has denied the claims (David Buchan/Getty)
Kechiche is the latest in a long line of prominent figures in the industry to be accused of sexual misconduct over the past year.
Film mogul Harvey Weinstein has been accused of sexual harassment, assault and rape by dozens of high-profile actresses, and handed himself in at New York police station earlier this year.
Dozens of people have also come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against actor Kevin Spacey, leading to multiple police investigations into the former House of Cards star.
Spacey has been accused by dozens of people (Todd Williamson/Getty)
Star Trek actor Anthony Rapp was the first to come forward with allegations, claiming that in 1986, when he was 14, Spacey invited him to a party at his New York apartment, and while drunk, tried to seduce him by climbing on top of him.
Rapp said he managed to flee before the encounter progressed any further. Spacey denied the claims.
X-Men director Brett Ratner was accused of sexual misconduct by several women, including Canadian star Ellen Page, who accused him of sexually harassing her when she was 18.
Ratner was accused by several women (Gustavo Caballero/Getty)
It was revealed that Ratner, who denied the allegations, was dropped as a producer on the upcoming Wonder Woman after the accusations came out.
Charlie Sheen and former Transparent star Jeffrey Tambor have also been accused of sexual misconduct.
