In an article published in the prestigious newspaper Le Monde, Julia Roy, Vahina Giocante, Isild Le Besco, and Laurence Cordier, all talented actresses, have decided to break the silence and testify to the influence they have endured from the renowned director Benoît Jacquot. They describe with courage and honesty the persistent advances they have faced from him. The actresses, who felt trapped and manipulated by the director’s power and status, have decided to speak out against these unacceptable behaviors. However, Benoît Jacquot, while acknowledging some of the described facts, minimizes the extent of his actions and partially denies the accusations against him.
Accusations by Judith Godrèche and Four Other Actresses
The director Benoît Jacquot, already targeted by a complaint from actress Judith Godrèche for “rape with violence on a minor under 15 years old,” is now accused by four other actresses of violence and sexual harassment. In an article published by Le Monde on Thursday, February 8, Julia Roy, Vahina Giocante, Isild Le Besco, and Laurence Cordier describe the director’s behavior of abusing his power and position to exert influence over them.
Testimony of Julia Roy
Julia Roy recounts events dating back about ten years. She met the director in 2013 at a conference he was giving at Sciences Po in Paris on “the politics of intimacy.” After greeting the moderator of the meeting, Benoît Jacquot pounced on her to give her a piece of paper with his number and asked her to call him several times. Julia Roy, who dreams of making films, contacts him. At the time, she was 23 years old and he was 66. During a first meeting, he announced that he would make all his films with her, help her write her own, and wanted to have her with him all the time and in front of him. Later, he invited her to Venice. On the sleeper train, he physically approached her, which made her uncomfortable given their age difference.
Julia Roy collaborated four times with Benoît Jacquot. On the set of the film “A jamais” in Portugal in 2015, for which she was a screenwriter, she claims to have been called a “whore” and a “bitch” in a hotel room. “He wanted to control everything I did. When I confronted him about his verbal and physical violence, he would deflect by claiming that none of it ever happened,” she says. Eventually, the actress returned to Austria, her home country. Benoît Jacquot admits to having “most likely” uttered insults, given her “a kick in the ass,” and thrown a glass of water in her face.
Testimony of Vahina Giocante
Vahina Giocante states that she “despises” Benoît Jacquot. In 1999, at the age of 17, she found herself on the set of the director’s film “Pas de scandale,” when he was 52. She had been warned about the filmmaker’s reputation. “I avoided certain situations, like when he wanted to do readings in the hotel where he was staying. On set, he initially engaged in a fairly subtle seduction game. But everything changed during a scene, the one in bed,” she recounts. In this scene, she had to get out of bed and pick up a long t-shirt from the floor to get dressed. “I do the scene once. Then Benoît Jacquot comes to me and asks me to redo it without wearing panties under the t-shirt. This makes no sense in terms of the script, as it covers my panties,” she explains. After convincing the dresser to give her “flesh-colored panties or a thong,” she redoes the scene. “Benoît Jacquot looks at me from below, with this smug little smile and says: ‘You see, it wasn’t so difficult.’ It was only for him a matter of power, a personal fantasy,” she denounces. Vahina Giocante then recounts that the director made advances and blackmailed her by saying, “Do you understand that, if you are nice to me, you will be in the next film?” After this, his attitude changed, he became cold, distant, and nasty. He even preferred to speak to her through the first assistant director.
Testimony of Isild Le Besco
Isild Le Besco collaborated six times with Benoît Jacquot. She met him in 2000 on the set of the film “Sade” when she was underage. She was in a relationship with the fifty-something director for several years. In a statement to Le Monde, she claims to have suffered “psychological or physical violence,” but prefers to remain silent in the press and reserve her possible testimony for a court summons and a written story she has been working on for months. Nevertheless, she emphasizes that it took her a long time to understand where her boundaries had been crossed and by whom.
Benoît Jacquot denies any physical violence towards Isild Le Besco, but admits to refusing to have children with her, which was very poorly received by her.
Testimony of Laurence Cordier
Another actress, Laurence Cordier, who was present on one of the sets, testifies to what Isild Le Besco experienced. She describes Benoît Jacquot as someone who monitored what she ate, reprimanded her, and spoke poorly to her. “He seemed like an unhealthy father. Isild was constantly terrified and seemed to be transformed into an accessory,” she recounts. She also claims to have confronted the filmmaker in 2009 when he made a declaration to her at a restaurant, saying, “We need to have a story together, you will be my muse. (…) I know deep down, you want this, it will be wonderful.” Despite Laurence Cordier’s refusals, he slipped the key to his apartment into her coat pocket and harshly dismissed her when she tried to return it.
Benoît Jacquot confirms this account by stating: “I put a key in her pocket. Is that a crime? I really liked her, and I felt like she liked me too.” In general, the filmmaker attributes these accusations from the four actresses to a “rather frightening neo-puritanism.”
These poignant testimonies shed light on abusive behaviors and the power wielded by certain figures in the film industry. The accusations made by Julia Roy, Vahina Giocante, Isild Le Besco, and Laurence Cordier against Benoît Jacquot raise crucial questions about power dynamics and the need to hold perpetrators of such violence accountable.
Pascal Petibon, born in 1980 in Lyon, is a renowned journalist and author, passionate about information and communication. After earning a degree in journalism from the University of Paris, he quickly joined various editorial teams, where he became known for his sharp analysis and clear writing style.
