Édouard Baer targeted by allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault

Six women have made allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault against French actor Édouard Baer, ​​in a joint investigation by the French daily Mediapart and online feminist media Cheek. None of the women, who testified anonymously, however, filed a complaint with the authorities.

The facts alleged against the actor, notably known for his role as Otis in Asterix and Obelix : Mission Cleopatra (2002), allegedly occurred over a period from 2013 to 2021. The women who testified were all in their twenties at the time of the alleged events. The latter would have taken place mainly in professional contexts.

It is with amazement and great sadness that I discovered the testimonies that you gave me, wrote Édouard Baer in a statement sent to Mediapart and Cheek. I do not recognize myself in the words or gestures attributed to me, but I can only express my regret that my behavior made these women uncomfortable or hurt.

According to one of them, the actor touched him breasts repeatedly in addition to having it taken by the waist and to have placed his hand on [ses] buttocks. Another accuses him of having cupped her left breast with his hand in an elevator. A third reports that he tried tokiss on the neck and on the mouth.

Question mark around a film shot in Quebec

Édouard Baer plays a leading role in the film The chef and the customs officer, by Quebec director Manon Briand. In an interview with Radio-Canada, the film’s producer Pierre Even admits to having been stunned by the allegations.

However, he assures that he was not aware of any behavior of this kind on the part of the actor during filming, which took place in Montreal and Montérégie last fall.

We were all shocked by this news. We called several members of the team to ensure that there were no events at our home. To date, everything has gone well and there has been no such event, but it was our first concernhe explains, adding that he has not yet spoken to the main person concerned.

Obviously, he must be in major crisis management, but I will definitely have to speak with his agent in the coming days.

Pierre Even concedes that the film’s distribution and promotion plans will necessarily have to be reviewed, but he affirms that he will follow the development of the case on a day-to-day basis before making a decision.

September, but we will see in the coming weeks how our campaign will evolve. We can’t bury our heads in the sand, this event is now part of the life of the film. But it is too early to say how we will approach things”,”text”:”Our release is still planned for September 13, but we will see in the coming weeks how our campaign will evolve. We can’t bury our heads in the sand, this event is now part of the life of the film. But it’s too early to say how we’re going to approach things”}}”>Our release is still scheduled for September 13, but we will see in the coming weeks how our campaign will evolve. We can’t bury our heads in the sand, this event is now part of the life of the film. But it’s too early to say how we’re going to approach thingshe summarizes.

The most important thing is to think of the women who testified and the courage it takes, we are completely with them. It’s going to affect the fate of our film, but it’s a secondary issue to everything else.

The chef and the customs officer tells the story of Victor (Édouard Baer), a French chef who has the contents of his car confiscated near a village located on the border between Quebec and the United States. The customs officer who carried out the confiscation, Sonia (Julie LeBreton), then seeks help from Victor to help her daughter Lili-Beth (Élodie Fontaine) win an amateur culinary competition.

The film also stars Sylvain Marcel, Oussama Farès, Douaa Kachache, Normand Chouinard, Michèle Deslauriers, Dominic Paquet and Lélia Nevert.

With information from Katerine Verebely

With information from Le Monde, Mediapart and Cheek