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An unidentified 27-year-old actress has filed a complaint with French police alleging that the renowned director laced her tea with drugs and then sexually abused her while she was passed out at a Paris hotel, Europe 1 first reported. Besson, known for such films as The Fifth Element and Nikita, has acknowledged being in touch with the actress but denied abusing her. The accusations against him came as Italian star Asia Argento delivered a powerful speech at Cannes, warning that “there are those who still have to be held accountable for their conduct against women.” “In 1997, I was raped by Harvey Weinstein here at Cannes. I was 21 years old. This festival was his hunting ground. I want to make a prediction: Harvey Weinstein will never be welcomed here ever again,” Argento told the audience.

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Police in Paris are investigating a rape allegation made against Luc Besson, one of France's best-known film directors.
The complaint was filed by an actress at a Paris police station on Friday.
"Luc Besson categorically denies these fantasist accusations," the director's lawyer Thierry Marembert told the AFP news agency.
"[The complainant] is someone he knows, towards whom he has never behaved inappropriately."
Besson, 59, a director, producer and screenwriter, is most famous for directing the 1988 film Le Grand Bleu, as well as Leon, Subway, The Fifth Element and action thriller Nikita.
He recently directed the sci-fi epic Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, starring Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne.

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