Nicolas Bedos sentenced for sexual assault, he appeals

The director of Mascarade, Nicolas Bedos, was sentenced on 22 October in Paris to one year in prison, six months of which were suspended on probation, and ordered to undergo treatment for sexual assaults committed on two women in 2023. His lawyer, Julia Minkowski, immediately reacted by announcing her intention to appeal, describing the decision as ‘an iniquitous judgement’.

For his part, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Tewfik Bouzenoune, hailed the decision as “a step forward in the fight against sexist and sexual violence”.

A trial with many issues at stake

Nicolas Bedos, who was not present at the verdict, was acquitted ‘for the benefit of the doubt’ on a separate charge of sexual harassment dating back to 2018, brought by a third woman. At the hearing on 26 September, the prosecution had requested a one-year suspended prison sentence and an obligation to undergo medical treatment.

During the trial, the actor and director firmly denied being a sexual assailant, while acknowledging his alcohol-related problems and sometimes inappropriate behaviour when drunk. ‘I don’t remember anything, it’s a blackout’, he repeated several times, denying any malicious intent.

Disturbing testimony

One of the alleged acts took place on the night of 1 to 2 June 2023, during an evening out at a Paris nightclub. The complainant said that Nicolas Bedos approached her before touching her private area over her jeans. Very moved, she told the witness: ‘His eyes frightened me. Two other women also filed civil suits, testifying to the director’s inappropriate behaviour.

One of them, a waitress in a bar, described being kissed on the neck by Nicolas Bedos, who was drunk at the time, during a party in May 2023. Another incident of sexual harassment occurred in June 2018, when the director, also drunk, allegedly touched a woman’s stomach and tried to follow her to the toilet.

Reactions and prospects

The defence lawyer, Me Minkowski, tried to play down these acts by asking the court not to recognise the assaults, claiming that a ‘kiss on the neck’ does not constitute sexual assault. The prosecutor, on the other hand, denounced ‘worrying repetitive behaviour’ and an unambiguous situation.

Nicolas Bedos, known for his films screened at the Cannes Film Festival and his collaborations with big names in French cinema such as Jean Dujardin and Isabelle Adjani, joins a growing list of film stars accused of sexual violence.