Patrick Bruel cancels tour following examination for rape and sexual assault charges
Singer Patrick Bruel, under examination for rape and sexual assault, is cancelling 35 concert dates scheduled from October onwards. He says the debate "goes beyond" the tour.
Patrick Bruel abandons tour amid pressure from accusations
Patrick Bruel announced on Tuesday 1 September the cancellation of his entire French tour, which was scheduled to begin on 2 October. According to France 24, the 67-year-old singer, under examination in four sexual violence cases, justified this decision in a message published on Instagram.
"This tour has become something else. It has become the embodiment of a debate that goes beyond it," he wrote, clarifying that his decision to proceed until now "was neither a challenge nor provocation". He did not explicitly mention the accusations levelled against him in this message.
The cancelled tour was to comprise 35 dates to celebrate "Alors Regarde", his second album released in 1989, which sold over three million copies. Around 150,000 spectators were expected, according to his own figures. Bruel also mentioned "nearly a hundred people" who had been working for months to prepare these concerts.
For several weeks, political figures and mayors had been calling on the former 1990s idol to give up performing on stage, as dozens of women accuse him of sexual assault.
Four examinations, four assisted-witness cases
Patrick Bruel is under examination in four separate cases: a rape in Neuilly-sur-Seine in 2008, an attempted rape in 2010 in Brussels, sexual assault and sexual harassment in Perpignan in 2019, and a sexual harassment case in Ajaccio in 2019.
He furthermore holds the status of assisted witness—a more favourable status—in four other cases: a rape in Dinard in 2012, a rape in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue in 2015, an attempted rape between 2010 and 2011 in Neuilly-sur-Seine, and sexual harassment in 2019 in Nyon, Switzerland.
The singer contests all the facts alleged against him and maintains that he has never "forced a woman".
Source: France 24 - France