Blue Is the Warmest Color Director Abdellatif Kechiche Accused of Sexual Assault 

On Wednesday, The Guardian reported that an unnamed actress accused decorated Franco-Tunisian director Abdellatif Kechiche of sexual assault in a complaint filed on October 6. Kechiche, 57, is most famous for directing Blue Is the Warmest Color (2013), for which he won the Palme D’Or at Cannes

French news channel BFM-TV reported that the 29-year-old actress had been at a dinner party with Kechiche and friends in Paris before the alleged attack. This was late June. She say she had several alcoholic drinks and has an incomplete memory of the night—what she does remember, she says, is waking up on a couch with her pants unzipped and Kechiche fondling her.

Kechiche’s lawyer, Jeremie Assous, told the network that his client categorically denies these accusations.

The two stars of Blue Is the Warmest Color—Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux, who play lovers in the film—have previously criticized Kechiche’s prurient directing techniques, including extending filming of the pair’s longest sex scene across 10 days. Kechiche said in a 2013 interview that he didn’t think the scenes went far enough.