Actor Benjamin Lavernhe, who played Abbé Pierre in a biopic last year, says he is “devastated” and speaks of “betrayal”

“To say to ourselves that we missed this and that we didn’t see it, that’s what’s most terrible,” describes the actor about the accusations of sexual violence perpetrated for years by the abbot. His testimony can be found in the program “Beau Geste”, to be seen this evening on France 2.

In the somewhat hagiographic biopic released in November 2023, Abbé Pierre, a life of struggledirected by Fréderic Tellier, actor Benjamin Lavernhe played the religious figure. Today, as accusations of sexual violence against the abbot multiply, he reacts for the first time and says he feels betrayed. With the film crew “we are devastated“, he declares in the show Nice gesture broadcast Sunday November 10 on France 2.

“I'm already thinking about the victims, there are 25 testimonies and it's terrible. Obviously, we feel a great betrayal, a great sadness.” says Benjamin Lavernhe. “Astonishment. I'm looking for words, but it's difficult to find them. Fright, because somewhere, he was a friend.“For if he had not met him, he had,” he said, “the impression of having known him a little“.

“How could this guy who did so many extraordinary things behave so badly? And beyond! The duality of the human being, the ambivalence, it's always a shock“, insists the actor.

“And of course Fréderic Tellier and all the teams are devastated. (…) To say to ourselves that we missed that and that we didn't see it, well that's what's the most terrible. So yes, it's going to take time to get over it.”

After the first seven accusations revealed in July, Abbé Pierre is accused by 17 new women of different types of sexual violence, according to a report from the specialized firm Egaé(New window) relayed by the Abbé-Pierre Foundation.

The report submitted on September 4 to the Emmaüs movement details facts ranging from “sexual comments” to “repeated acts of sexual penetration”on an adult person as well as “sexual contact with a child”. In reaction to these testimonies, the Foundation announced several measures, including the change of its name to remove the mention of the abbot.