Singer Patrick Bruel denies wave of sexual assault allegations in France

Warning: contains details of alleged sexual offences and misconduct

French star Patrick Bruel has fiercely denied allegations he sexually assaulted a number of women during his 50-year career as a singer and actor.

Bruel, 67, has in recent weeks been the subject of a wave of accusations – some of which are now being examined by prosecutors with a view to possible court action.

Among his latest accusers is the well-known TV and radio presenter Flavie Flament, who alleges the singer drugged and raped her at his Paris home in 1991, when she was 16 and he 32.

Bruel, who is currently performing at a Paris theatre, wrote in a post on Instagram that he had never in his life "forced myself on a woman".

"Nor have I ever drugged, manipulated or tried to subjugate anyone… nor used my fame to abuse or obtain non-consensual relations," he said.

Born Patrick Benguigui in Algeria in 1959, Bruel came to fame in the early 1980s with songs such as Marre de cette nana-là (Had enough of that chick). His strong voice and dark brooding looks led to a public obsession that became known as Bruelmania.

He has remained in the public eye and the abuse allegations against him have been making front-page news in France.

Bruel is due to start a concert tour in June of France, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada after finishing his theatre engagement, but a feminist group has launched an online petition to have the tour cancelled.

In addition to Flament, around 30 other women have complained about sexual mistreatment by Bruel, according to French investigative website Mediapart.

Around 10 of these cases are now being reviewed by prosecutors in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. They include a case that was initially dropped in 2020 for lack of evidence. Two separate allegations are being studied in the Brittany town of Saint-Mâlo and in Belgium.

French government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon said on Tuesday that female victims should be encouraged to speak out "even decades later", adding "it is up then up to the justice system to establish the truth of the facts".

Flament told Mediapart that Bruel "set his heart" on her after they met on the set of a TV programme, and one day invited her back to his flat.

She said she remembered drinking a cup of tea, and the next thing Bruel was "doing up my trousers as I lay on his bed". Flament said she was convinced she had been drugged and raped.

On Tuesday, Bruel's lawyer Christophe Ingrain said the story was made up and the relationship between his client and Flament had been "totally consensual".

"Patrick Bruel is very clear: he never forced himself on or drugged Flavie Flament. There was no rape," Ingrain told BFMTV.

"They were two people who liked each other and might from time to time have sex when they met," he added.

This was immediately denied by Flament, who said: "I never had any relationship of any kind with Patrick Bruel."

Flament was one of the first women to raise the alert in France over sexual exploitation by influential males when in 2016 she claimed to have been raped at the age of 13 on the French Riviera by British nude photographer David Hamilton.

This led to a change in the law, increasing the time in which charges for sexual crimes against a minor can be brought against someone after the alleged crime has been committed from 20 years to 30.