Nicolas Bedos’ trial for sexual assault and harassment takes place this Thursday, September 26, 2024 in Paris. A look back at the case in which the filmmaker and actor is implicated.
After more than a year of proceedings, Nicolas Bedos appears before the Paris Criminal Court this Thursday, September 26, 2024. The filmmaker is being tried for sexual assault by a person in a state of obvious intoxication and for sexual harassment in three separate cases that will be examined during the same hearing.
Nicolas Bedos had already appeared before the Paris court for sexual assault while clearly intoxicated on February 8. But the trial was finally postponed until Thursday, September 26, on the grounds of “proper administration of justice” and a “lack of calibration” to examine the case.
What is Nicolas Bedos accused of?
Nicolas Bedos is being tried for sexual assault by a person in a state of obvious intoxication and for sexual harassment. The trial will focus on three separate cases:
- A complaint for sexual assault that allegedly took place during a nightclub evening in Paris, on the night of June 1 to 2, 2023. The complainant, a 25-year-old woman, says she felt “rubbing between her legs” and accuses him of having “slid his hand into her private parts, over her pants.”
- Another woman, a waitress at a Parisian bar, accuses Nicolas Bedos of sexual assault. The events allegedly took place in a nightclub, on the night of May 11-12, 2023. She reported a non-consensual kiss on the neck after being forcibly grabbed by the waist, but did not file a complaint.
- A third woman accuses him of sexual harassment and denounces the “insistent and offensive behavior for which Nicolas Bedos had apologized” during an evening, between June 14 and 15, 2018. She did not file a complaint either.
Two other women had testified against Nicolas Bedos’ behavior in a Médiapart investigation in July 2023. Heard by investigators as part of an investigation opened for rape and sexual assault, they did not lead to a trial and the cases were closed without further action. These accusations will not be the subject of the hearing this Thursday, September 26.
How does Nicolas Bedos defend himself?
In the context of the complaint accusing him of having “slipped his hand into the private parts” of the complainant in a nightclub, Nicolas Bedos allegedly told investigators that he had no memory of the events: “if this gesture existed, it could only have been accidental,” he allegedly confided. His lawyer Julia Minkowski told Le Monde when the filmmaker was released from police custody: “He does not want to question the complainant’s words, who described an inappropriate gesture of a few seconds over his jeans. But such a gesture, which he does not remember, which allegedly occurred on the dance floor of a nightclub, could only have been accidental under the influence of drunkenness.” For the facts of sexual assault while clearly drunk, Nicolas Bedos faces five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros.
Latest updates
14:40 – The trial of Nicolas Bedos has begun
The trial of Nicolas Bedos began early this afternoon at the Paris Criminal Court. The 45-year-old filmmaker is present, as are the three women who reported sexual assault or sexual harassment to investigators. According to RMC journalist Marion Dubreuil, the hearing began with the reading of the summary of the facts. She also specifies that “on the benches, the complainant is in tears” upon reading the traumatic impact that the alleged facts may have had on her.
10:53 – Nicolas Bedos will be present at the hearing
Nicolas Bedos is being tried this Thursday, September 26 for sexual assault and sexual harassment in three separate cases. His lawyer, Julia Minkowski, has announced that the 45-year-old defendant will indeed be present at the hearing today. As will the complainant, a woman who was 25 at the time of the events that allegedly occurred on the night of June 1 to 2 and who was the first to denounce the filmmaker. “She is determined and she will be present to discuss the facts as well as the consequences on her mental health,” said her lawyer, Tewfik Bouzenoune.