She left the César ceremony with a bang, on February 29, 2020, after the award given to Roman Polanski, then announced, three years later, in a letter to Teleramaput oneself “on cinema strike”, due, in particular, to the “general complacency of the profession towards sexual attackers”. This Monday, December 9, Adèle Haenel will return to another scene – a legal one – during the trial brought against the director Christophe Ruggia, whom she accuses of sexual assault committed between 2001 and 2004. Chosen to play the leading role from her film “Les Diables”, which narrates the incestuous escapade of a brother and a sister, abandoned at birth, the teenager was aged only 12 to 14 years old at the time of the events.
The filmmaker, who was between 36 and 39 years old, denies the accusations made by Adèle Haenel, explaining that these would constitute a “vengeance” following an aborted film project. A scenario which did not convince the investigating judge in charge of the case. The order for reference, cited by Médiapart who revealed the affair in 2019, thus underlines that Adèle Haenel described in a manner “circumstantial, constant and precise several episodes of touching of a sexual nature on his penis and his chest”, which would have taken place at the home of Christophe Ruggia, during weekly meetings (more than a hundred in three years) supposed to perfect the young girl’s cinematographic culture…
Meetings which followed filming already described as trying, with several witnesses evoking the behavior “abnormal, too tactile, ambiguous and invasive” of the filmmaker towards the teenager, without sounding the alarm. “It’s not okay, it looks like a couple, it’s not normal,” However, the film’s scriptwriter said to herself at the time. Confronted with these accusations, but also, in June 2023, with the actress herself, the director only delivered to justice “unclear and unsuitable explanations, particularly with regard to vocabulary” employee “regarding a child”.
In a story written following the Médiapart revelations and entitled “Adèle Haenel killed me”, Christophe Ruggia even places himself as the victim of a dangerous temptress. “She moved her tongue in her mouth in a truly erotic way, worthy of a porn film, looking at me with enamored eyes,” writes the filmmaker, who also adds: “Adèle and her 12-year-old were overflowing with sensuality”. For Adèle Haenel’s lawyer, Me Yann Le Bras, we must return to the “reality” from this folder: “a 36 year old guy who touched a 12 year old girl” for several years. He similarly brushes aside the “revenge” thesis. “We are talking about a famous actress who endangers her career by accusing a confidential director”, he argues.
The trial is scheduled to last two days, during which the filmmaker’s ex-partner, Mona Achache, and his sister, Véronique Ruggia, will be heard. For the facts held against him, Christophe Ruggia faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros.
-Closer to those who create
Humanity always claimed the idea that culture is not a commoditythat it is a condition of political life and human emancipation.
Faced with liberal cultural policies, which weaken the public service of culture, the newspaper reports on the resistance of creators and all cultural personnel, but also on the solidarity of the public.
Unusual, daring and singular positions are the hallmark of the newspaper’s culture pages. Our journalists explore behind the scenes of the world of culture and the genesis of the works who make and shake up the news.
Help us defend an ambitious idea of culture!
I want to know more!
