Usually rather quiet, she spoke up. Pauline Desmonts, companion of Nicolas Bedos, spoke this Saturday, January 20 in the show “Quelle era! “. On the Léa Salamé set, she notably returned to the accusations of sexual assault and sexual harassment which target her companion, as well as to the total absence of promotion around the series “Alphonse”, released in October.
Nicolas Bedos is due to appear on September 26, 2024 for sexual assault on a woman during an evening at a nightclub and for sexual harassment during another evening against another woman.
The first alleged acts took place in Paris between May 11 and 12, 2023 and correspond to “a kiss on the neck on a woman in a nightclub”, according to Julia Minkowski, Nicolas Bedos’ lawyer. The acts of sexual harassment accused of the actor and director date back to 2018.
“It can be obnoxious, it can be excessive, provocative”
On the set of the France 2 show, Pauline Desmonts returned to the reasons which, for the moment, confine the actor and director to silence. She mentioned in particular a “general atmosphere” in the context of “affairs focused on French cinema, on behavior which must be denounced”. “What’s terrible is that as far as Nicolas is concerned, it has nothing to do with it. The nature and context of the alleged facts are very different. We are talking about a problem of excess, of partying, of alcohol, in a truly festive setting,” she tried to justify in response to the accusations.
Questioned by Léa Salamé on possible regrets from the actor regarding the facts with which he is accused, his companion kicked in: “If he regrets one thing, it is having continued to go out like a teenager who ‘He is not anymore. This whole affair has accelerated this awareness, it is a problem that he is treating,” affirms the young woman.
“Obviously, people will say that I am judge and jury, but I know him by heart (…) He works with a lot of women, with the same people for ten years. Everyone knows how to sort things out very well as far as they are concerned,” she continued. “Yes, he can be obnoxious, he can be excessive, provocative, whatever you want, but he is not a sexual assaulter,” she said on set, without explicitly mentioning whether the actor recognized the facts or contested them.
“When he tells you non, do you believe it? », asked Léa Salamé. “I actually know that,” retorted Pauline Desmonts. “I know him, I’ve seen him. I know what state he got into with alcohol. It’s something that is contextualized at the end of the evening,” she repeated again.
Amazon in the couple’s sights
This year, Nicolas Bedos directed the series “Alphonse”, broadcast by Amazon on Prime Video. In this one, we follow the adventures of Alphonse, played by Jean Dujardin. This forty-year-old becomes a gigolo after losing his job and the series follows him in his encounters with women. Due to the accusations against Nicolas Bedos, the series was unable to benefit from any promotion and was released on the sly by the streaming platform.
Neither the director nor the actors and actresses were authorized to promote the series. ” It’s a cancelisation (cancelation) who does not say his name”, according to Pauline Desmonts. Nicolas Bedos “had no choice”, “Amazon in a certain way muzzled the entire team, under penalty of not releasing the series”, she affirmed.
“We had the impression that the (critiques) were talking about the same thing, that they were in reaction to the kind of lynching that took place in the series. We cannot help but think that there is obviously a very strong link of subjectivity (consists in) connect the accusations and the series,” insisted Pauline Desmonts.