Last year, Vanessa Springora, a publisher, accused Gabriel Matzneff, a popular writer, of abusing her when she was a minor. He had never hidden to have sex with girls and boys in their teens, but had long enjoyed the pleasures of his literary entourage.
In 2019, Adèle Haenel, a movie star, a director, Christophe Ruggia, accused her of sexually harassing her when she was in her teens. Ms Haenel won the French César Film Awards last year when director Roman Polanski, who is wanted in the United States for legal rape involving a 13-year-old girl, won the best director.
Me. Kouchner is candid about her anger toward this artistic world, as she sees it, centered in fashionable districts on the left bank of Paris. ‘Very quickly,’ she writes, ‘the microcosm of rulers, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, has been informed. Many people knew and most pretended that nothing had happened. She continues: ‘This silence is not just cowardice. Some are delighted to be silent. This obligation testifies to the fact that they belong to a certain world. ‘
It was unclear who exactly she was referring to, and she provided no evidence.
Attitudes can begin to change. The French public prosecutor immediately said he was investigating Mr. Duhamel starts due to rape of minors and sexual aggression. He said the investigation would investigate whether the crimes that Mr. Duhamel is accused of falling within the statute of limitations of France, and that it will also investigate the possibility of other victims.
Sciences Po issued a statement condemning ‘all forms of sexual violence’ and declaring ‘his shock and surprise’ over the ‘very serious allegations against Olivier Duhamel, the former president of the board of trustees administering Sciences Po’. In a message to donors, he said: “The fight against sexual and gender-based violence is at the heart of our institution’s core values and actions.”
Mr. Duhamel also spoke to Europe 1, the radio station where he had a weekly program, and LCI, the television network where he was a regular political commentator. He deleted his Twitter account after announcing his resignation.
In the book, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, Mrs. Kouchner told her brother who told her at the time what Mr. Duhamel did: ‘He came to my bed and said,’ I will show you. You will see, everyone does. “He caresses me and then you know. “Her brother,” she wrote, pleaded with her: “Respect this secret. I promised him, so you promise me. When you speak, I die. ‘