Former IMF chief sues makers of film about sex addict who assaults maid
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A lawyer for former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn says his client has asked him to sue the makers of a film about a sex addict who commits a sex assault on a hotel maid.
The new movie “Welcome to New York,” starring French star Gerard Depardieu, was featured at a screening in Cannes, coinciding with the French city’s famous film festival. It’s billed as a fictional story and includes a legal disclaimer.
But Strauss-Kahn's lawyer says the film is defamatory because its subject matter is similar to the accusations leveled against his client after a New York hotel maid said he sexually assaulted her.
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Strauss-Kahn settled a civil case by the woman after criminal charges were dropped.
Attorney Jean Veil reminded listeners that the lawsuit happened three years ago and Strauss-Kahn was cleared, while speaking to Europe 1 radio Monday, Reuters reported.
"He is frightened, sickened (by the film). He has instructed his lawyers, myself, to make a complaint for defamation based on accusations of rape, on the insinuations made throughout this film," Veil said.
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The film’s director, Abel Ferrara, told Reuters that the movie is fiction, during an interview in Cannes. "I'm not on trial," Ferrara said. "I'm an artist, I have freedom of speech. I'm from America I'm from the country of the free, land of the free and home of the brave.”
The film opens with an extended sex-party scene before the encounter between the main character, George Devereau, and a hotel maid. Depardieu appears naked and indulges in sexual activity with several partners throughout the over 20-minute scene.
Following the "Welcome to New York" screening at Cannes, the film was made available throughout France on pay-per-view.
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Strauss-Kahn, 65, became the managing director of the IMF in 2007 but was forced to quit that position after the maid’s rape allegations in 2011. Strauss-Kahn was also charged with aggravated pimping in a separate case in France in 2013.