Cannes Bans Actor Accused Of Sexual Assault From Red Carpet

Yahoo

15-05-2025

Cannes Film Festival Delegate General Thierry Fremaux has banned an actor due to walk the red carpet with Palme d'Or contender Dossier 137 after it emerged that he has been accused of sexual assault by three woman. Théo Navarro-Mussy was set to join the cast and crew this evening for the competition screening of Dominik Moll's drama Dossier 137, about a police officer assigned to a case about a young man alleging police violence. According to French film and TV magazine Télérama, which broke the story, Frémaux took the decision after being informed by actors' association ADA of official complaints against the actor for rape as well as physical and psychological violence by three women. The accusations relate to events in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The complaint was dismissed by the courts in April 2025, but the plaintiffs have said they are planning to lodge an appeal as civil parties. Cannes has never announced an official protocol around how it will deal with participants accused of sexual violence, but Frémaux appears to have taken his cue from the rules set out by the French César Academy. The César Academy protocol states that cinema professionals under investigation for any violent acts are not welcome at the ceremony and cannot receive any type of award, publicly or behind closed doors, until the case is ruled on. Frémaux was quoted as saying in the Télérama article: 'Because there is an appeal and therefore a continuation of the investigation, the case is not suspended. Once it's ruled on definitively in the courts, it will be different.'
Cannes has bolstered its response to participants accused of sexual violence in recent years, after coming under under fire in the past amid the rise of the #MeToo movement, with a number of actresses publicly accusing the festival of turning a blind eye to sexually inappropriate behavior by some of its guests
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In 2023, French actress Adèle Haenel wrote an open letter in which she suggested that Cannes was part of an ecosystem that allowed a 'general complacency' towards sexual predators.
Frémaux responded in his pre-opening press conference that year that her comments were 'false' and 'erroneous'.
Actress and filmmaker Judith Godrèche, who sparked a #MeToo revival in France last year after she spoke up about sexual abuse at the hands of director Benoît Jacquot, was among multiple actresses to have recounted inappropriate behaviour from Harvey Weinstein during Cannes.
Earlier this year, a French parliamentary inquiry spearheaded by Godrèche, said in its conclusions that sexual abuse, as well as physical and psychological violence, was endemic in the French film industry, and called on Cannes to be part of the solution in stamping it out.
A festival spokesperson has confirmed that the Tèlérama report is correct.
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