French film director Luc Besson on Monday denied raping or drugging a young actress — the first time the maker of The Fifth Element has spoken publicly about the sex allegations against him.
A judge reopened a rape investigation into the movie mogul on Friday, eight months after Paris prosecutors had dropped a case brought by the Dutch-Belgian actress Sand Van Roy, who claimed that Besson had repeatedly raped her over a two-year period.
She is one of nine women who have said they were assaulted or harassed by the powerful director and producer.
Van Roy, 28, had minor roles in his “Taxi 5” and “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets”.
Luc Besson has admitted having a relationship with Van Roy but dismissed her as a “fantasist.”
“This case is a lie from A to Z. I did not rape that woman, I have never raped a woman in my life,” he told BFMTV.
“I have never lifted a hand to a woman, I have never threatened a woman… I never drugged this woman as has been said. That is a lie,” he said in extracts from the interview, which will be broadcast in full on Tuesday.