French star Patrick Bruel denies multiple sexual assault allegations

The French singer and actor Patrick Bruel, the subject of multiple rape allegations, protested his innocence on Sunday and said he would not step away from his work.The Paris prosecutor’s office announced earlier on Sunday that Bruel was the subject of at least four complaints of sexual assault in France, and that the cases would be investigated together.“I have never forced a woman,” Bruel wrote in a statement shared on his Instagram page. “And if I have hurt anyone, I sincerely regret it.”Bruel, who has had a string of top-selling albums and appeared in more than 40 films, also faces a separate investigation in Belgium after a complaint about an alleged sexual assault in Brussels was filed in March.The 67-year-old, who is acting in a play in Paris, is scheduled to begin a concert tour on 16 June that will take him around France, as well as to Switzerland, Belgium and Canada.A petition is circulating, backed by feminist groups, calling for the concerts to be cancelled.But Bruel insisted on Sunday he would “continue to do my job, with the same dedication and the same passion”.Since March the French investigative news website Mediapart has published allegations from women who have accused Bruel of sexual harassment and sexual assault.Bruel’s statement on Sunday addressed allegations made in Mediapart by the television presenter Flavie Flament.On Sunday Bruel said their relationship was “neither violent, nor coercive, nor underhanded”.“I have never used my fame to abuse anyone or obtain non-consensual relationships,” he wrote. “I understand that our age difference might raise eyebrows today. I also understand that fame or status can skew a romantic relationship.”He added: “For weeks, several voices have been calling for my public condemnation, without a trial, as if the sheer number of accusations were enough to establish the truth. It will be up to the justice system, in which I have complete faith, to shed light on these accusations; it has done so before. I will fight before it to defend the truth.”Bruel’s lawyer, Christophe Ingrain, previously told France-presse" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="1517" data-entity-type="organization">Agence France-Presse that courts had already ruled on some of the allegations made against his client. These include accusations of sexual harassment and assault by two massage therapists in 2019. A preliminary investigation was closed due to lack of evidence.The star is the latest in a string of French movie and music celebrities to face sexual assault claims. Last year the film legend Gérard Depardieu was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women during a film shoot in 2021 and given an 18-month suspended prison sentence. His appeal will be heard in November. France-presse" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="1517" data-entity-type="organization">Agence France-Presse contributed to this report