Actress and director Maïwenn (“DNA”) has been sued for allegedly assaulting journalist Edwy Plenel, editor-in-chief of French magazine Mediapart, in a Paris restaurant.
The news comes after Maïwenn’s new feature “Jeanne du Barry,” starring Johnny Depp (“Pirates of the Caribbean”), was announced as the opening film at the Cannes Film Festival.
A complaint was filed with the police, accusing the director of assault. In the complaint, Plenel says he was attacked by Maïwenn in late February while eating in a Paris restaurant.
Maïwenn, who was sitting alone at a nearby table, allegedly approached the reporter’s table and grabbed him by the hair. She also spat in his face without saying a word. After that, the artist left the place “furious”, leaving Plenel “traumatized by the incident”.
The police report was leaked this Friday (7/4), two days after the official announcement that the film directed by and starring Maïwenn had been chosen to open the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival.
The reporter allegedly said he “personally never had a problem” with Maïwenn, but Mediapart magazine has spearheaded the #MeToo movement in France. In 2018 they released a series of reports about Maïwenn’s ex-husband, fellow director Luc Besson (“Lucy”), with whom she has a daughter. He has been accused by several women of “inappropriate behavior and sexual assaults”.
Maïwenn, who has publicly stated that he has not embraced the #MeToo movement, has cast Depp, accused of assaulting ex-wife Amber Heard, to play King Louis XV of France in his film. He hired the actor before he won a lawsuit against Heard in the United States. The film is the actor’s first major work after the settlement of the defamation lawsuit filed against the ‘Aquaman’ actress.
In addition to directing, Maïwenn also brings to life the romantic companion of Louis XV, the protagonist Jeanne du Barry, considered the greatest love of the monarch. Jeanne was taken to the Palace of Versailles to live near, although she was not a noblewoman. The film will premiere in French theaters on the same day as its Cannes screening.
Source: Terra
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