His autobiography, published this Thursday, May 2, reveals the story of a sexual assault. In “Libre”, Adriana Karembeu writes that she escaped an attempted rape by a French director while she ventured “timidly into the world of cinema”, 17 years ago. “One day, my agent suggested that I meet a director for a project,” begins the model and actress in the book that “Télé-Loisirs” consulted. She previously starred in the film “Three Little Girls”.
“I go to his house alone for the meeting, I am naive enough not to be suspicious because it is the afternoon […]. After a brief discussion about the script, he gets up and moves closer to me on the couch. He puts his hand on his knee, then suddenly throws himself on me, kissing me violently,” writes Adriana Karembeu. “I feel his saliva on my face and my chest,” she recalls.
“I push him away with force, shocked that he dared to attack me,” continues the model, without revealing the name of the filmmaker. And to emphasize: “I am 35 years old, and I found the strength necessary to repel this infamous predator and escape. If I had been 20, I think I would have been more deeply affected. »
Silence to forget
Back home, Adriana Karembeu remained prostrate for several hours, reports “Télé-Loisirs”. The model doesn’t tell anyone about the attack so she can forget it as quickly as possible.
“A few days later, while I still remain silent about this attack, we have a romantic dinner at a restaurant. And there, like a punch in the stomach, I see this French director cross the threshold, walk towards our table, act absolutely as if nothing had happened,” she says.
“He dares to greet me in front of my husband, with his lecherous air, even though he tried to rape me so recently,” she adds. It was years later that the actress decided to tell her agent. “I should have warned you, he is sometimes borderline, his reputation precedes him,” he allegedly replied. A testimony that reveals a lot of the silence surrounding sexual violence in French cinema, while women’s voices are just beginning to be listened to.
