French actor Judith Godrèche files rape charges against Benoît Jacquot
French actor Judith Godrèche has filed a police complaint against director Benoît Jacquot, accusing him of "rapes with violence of a minor less than 15 years old," Le Monde reported. This comes after Godrèche publicly denounced their relationship from the late 1980s when she was just 14 and Jacquot was 40. The 77-year-old director denied the allegations, claiming they shared a "loving" relationship. If found guilty, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
Why does this story matter?
Jacquot, known for directing Farewell, My Queen has consistently maintained that Godrèche was 15—the legal age of consent in France. Godrèche (now 51) lived with Jacquot for six years and featured in his films The Beggars and The Disenchanted before leaving in her early 20s. Following her departure, she went on to carve out a successful career as an actor. She recently ventured into TV direction, debuting with the A24-backed drama Icons of French Cinema, inspired by her own life.
When Godrèche broke silence on relationship with Jacquot
The actor initially started revisiting her experiences with Jacquot without directly naming him during the press campaign for her show IoFC. However, on January 6, she took to social media, revealing the director's identity. In an Instagram Story, which has since disappeared, she declared, "The little girl in me can no longer stay quiet." "He is called Benoît Jacquot...He still manipulates those who might associate their names with mine. Bear witness. He threatens to take me to court for defamation."
'I was navigating a world without rules alone'
Godrèche said her daughter Tess Barthélemy's teenage years made her realize the troubling nature of her relationship with Jacquot. In a December interview with Elle magazine, she stated, "If a 40-year-old man approached my daughter, I would kill him." She continued, "Because I now have an adolescent daughter, I've realized what happened to me. I was navigating a world without rules or laws alone."
'I didn't want his body...he disgusted me': Godrèche
On Tuesday, Godrèche spoke with the Brigade for the Protection of Minors in Paris, recounting her experiences with Jacquot after consulting her lawyer Laure Heinich. In a text published in Le Monde, Godrèche wrote, "It's a story like the stories of children who are kidnapped." "I would've liked Benoît to accept being my friend, rather than taking me. I didn't want his body. Very quickly, he disgusted me," it continued.
She decided to come forward after watching Jacquot's clip
Godrèche decided to come forward after receiving a clip from the 2011 documentary Les Ruses du Désir: L'interdit by Gérard Miller, where Jacquot boasted about their relationship. He stated, "It's definitely a transgression, at least in the eyes of the law...a girl like her, this [Judith] who was 15 years old, while I was 40, I don't think I had the right." "But so what? I didn't care and, for her, I would say it excited her a lot."
Godrèche's reaction to Jacquot's documentary comments
In an interview on the talk show Quotidien, Godrèche expressed her disgust at Jacquot's portrayal of their relationship in the documentary. "Seeing myself transformed into an object and being talked about like a thing, rather than speaking for myself. I vomited. I was in a state of panic," she said. "There was no consent. Consent does not exist at 14. You're not excited at 14 about sleeping with a 40-year-old guy," she added.
