MeToo allegations on the Théâtre du Soleil in Paris | EUROtoday

The MeToo motion in France has affected the Théâtre du Soleil, which is thought for its fights on behalf of unlawful immigrants and towards right-wing extremism. In a protracted investigative report by the Paris on-line newspaper “Mediapart,” eight girls accuse two long-time members of Ariane Mnouchkine’s squad of great crimes. The Paris Youth Protection Brigade is because of maintain hearings this month. It will not be sure whether or not prison proceedings will probably be opened afterwards. And even when they do, the 2 individuals affected, who had been launched from the pressure in April, are initially presumed harmless.

The eight girls’s accusations agree on many factors. They are confirmed by statements from unaffected troop members. Suspected victims had been youngsters or younger adults who had been on the backside of the troop hierarchy. They labored on the Théâtre du Soleil between 2010 and 2025: 4 of them helped out free of charge on the bar, within the kitchen or with home tasks, others had been employed as actresses, in administration or within the press service. Two of them accuse Farid Gul Ahmad of tried rape. The Afghan, who Mnouchkine rescued along with his spouse and kids to France, pushed them towards a sink or storage packing containers and tried to coerce them. The eighty-six-year-old troop chief confirmed to “Mediapart” that she had reacted “à l’ancienne” to the newest incident after she was knowledgeable of it in 2024: with a slap within the face for the “reluctant” and “pervert”.

The allegations towards Sébastien Brottet-Michel, who all eight girls listed accuse of sexual violence, are much more critical. The allegations vary from generally whispered “smut” and indecent touching to “violent” sexual acts. Four of the alleged victims had been college students between the ages of fifteen and seventeen who the actor had promised to take beneath his wing as a “mentor”. Brottet-Michel had already been accused of verbal and bodily violence by troop members in 2010. However, towards a minority that was calling for his dismissal on the time, Mnouchkine’s “favorite” and “right-hand man” was given the prospect to enhance. “People are changing, making progress, becoming calmer,” the troop chief pleaded to “Mediapart”.

Others who aren’t straight affected see (fairly self-critically: they themselves didn’t react appropriately) a systemic failure within the alleged assaults. The Théâtre du Soleil resembles an absolute monarchy with a matriarchal functioning and the options of a sect, say present or former troupe members. One, final July, castigated a “system of domination, of organized precariat, of hushed violence” in a grievance to France’s Interministerial Mission for the Fight towards Sectarian Deviance (Miviludes). Paranoia, favoritism and valorization of brutality destroyed lives there.