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PARIS — The prosecutor’s office in Nanterre, in the Paris suburbs, has launched an investigation into rape allegations against TV anchor Patrick Poivre d’Arvor, the AFP and several media outlets report.
According to newspaper Le Parisien, which first broke the story Thursday night, the investigation comes after a complaint from Florence Porcel, a writer and a youtuber specialized in scientific content who has accused Poivre d’Arvor of raping her on two occasions in 2004 and 2009.
Poivre d’Arvor denied the allegations in a line sent to the newspaper, saying the accusations “could only be deceitful.” His lawyer said he would file a complaint for slander.
Often referred to by his initials PPDA, the journalist was the face of the leading 8 p.m. news broadcast for decades, from the late 1970’s to 2008 and remains a prominent figure in the country where he published several best selling novels. He has interviewed several presidents including François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy.
According to Le Parisien, Porcel accuses Poivre d’Arvor of first abusing her in his office at TV channel TF1 in 2004, after she solicited his professional advice on her writing. She was 21 and a student at the time.
The newspaper, citing the complaint as its source, writes that she was petrified during the incident and didn’t realize at the time the full extent of what had happened. After this first encounter, Porcel said she later met with Poivre d’Arvor again and this time had a consensual sexual encounter, which she now sees as the result of a toxic relationship.
Porcel didn’t comment in the story but confirmed the existence of the complaint through her lawyer.
The second alleged rape occurred in 2009, when she said he forced her to have oral sex in his office at a the TV production company he was working for at the time. Porcel reportedly kept messages sent to her friends where she talked about being “forced” and considered filing a complaint then, but feared the consequences of accusing one of France’s most popular journalists.
She recently published an autobiographical book called Pandorini which is inspired by her own story, according to Le Parisien.
Poivre d’Arvor is “revolted by the way in which he is being used to promote a novel. Obviously, these accusations are absurd and, above all, deceitful. He firmly rejects them,” according to the statement provided by the lawyer.
The journalist is ready to be heard by the investigators, “if they wish to hear him”, his lawyer added, and will also “use this opportunity (…) to proceed with the filing of a complaint” for slanderous denunciation against Porcel.
The investigation against Poivre d’Arvor follows several accusations against prominent French media and political figures in recent months. In January, political scientist Olivier Duhamel was accused of sexually abusing his stepson in the 1990s, which led to the resignation of several of his associates in French power circles, including the director of elite university Sciences Po.
The high-profile scandal sparked nationwide outrage and fueled a renewed debate over how to protect victims from abuses, leading French President Emmanuel Macron to vow to tighten laws on child sex abuse.
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