Jean-Claude Van Damme is hitting again at accusations he allegedly had intercourse with 5 Romanian ladies he knew have been trafficked.
“We’ve grow to be conscious of articles alleging an alleged affair in Cannes involving Mr. Jean-Claude Van Damme,” the motion star’s agent, Patrick Goavec, mentioned in an announcement translated from French on Wednesday.
“The reported details are each grotesque and non-existent,” Goavec advised Folks. “Mr. Van Damme doesn’t want to remark or gas this rumor, which is as absurd as it’s unfounded.”
The assertion comes one week after CNN affiliate Antena 3 reported {that a} legal criticism was filed with the Romanian Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism alleging that Van Damme, 64, had sexual relations with 5 ladies being trafficked by a legal group led by Morel Bolea.
The alleged incidents came about in Cannes at an occasion organized by the “Bloodsport” star, and the ladies – all fashions – have been allegedly supplied as a “reward” to him, based on the criticism obtained by Antena 3.
The ladies “have been in a state of vulnerability, with the suspicion that they have been exploited throughout the which means of Article 182 of the Legal Code,” Adrian Cuculis, an lawyer for one of many alleged victims, advised the information outlet.
“At one level in Cannes, at an occasion organized by Jean-Claude Van Damme, a number of Romanians who’re at present being investigated for the institution of a legal group and pimping allegedly supplied Jean-Claude Van Damme 5 Romanian ladies — photograph fashions in Romania — for him to have sexual relations [with],” Cuculis mentioned, per a translation.
“The one that acquired these advantages knew their situation,” Cuculis continued within the translated assertion given to Antena 3. “From the witness statements, it is vitally clear that Jean-Claude Van Damme knew that these individuals have been being exploited.”
One of many ladies who witnessed the alleged incident relayed the knowledge to prosecutors, based on Antena 3. DIICOT subsequently opened a legal investigation on the actor.
In a remark given to Web page Six, Bolea referred to as the report “fully pretend information” and denied having a “reference to” Van Damme.
The case will proceed to the Excessive Court docket of Cassation in France the place legal proceedings have to be approved. Per Antena 3, suspects within the case will likely be ordered to Romania to supply statements.
Cuculis advised the outlet that the case is a component of a bigger investigation into trafficking, together with trafficking of minors, that started 5 years in the past in Romania.
Van Damme rose to fame within the late Nineteen Eighties with “Bloodsport” and influenced the motion style with subsequent films together with “Timecop,” “Road Fighter,” “Lionheart” and “The Expendables 2.”
The actor has been married 5 occasions to 4 completely different ladies and has three kids – Kristopher and Bianca Brigitte, whom he shares with third spouse Gladys Portugues, and Nicholas, whom he shares with fourth spouse Darcy LaPier.
In 2018, his son Nicholas pled responsible to disorderly conduct for allegedly holding a roommate at knifepoint in Phoenix. He was sentenced to 18 months of probation for the incident.
