So, yes, Maïwenn was accused last month of assault by Mediapart journalist Edwy Plenel. The complaint was filed in March against Maïwenn whom Plenel accuses of having attacked him at a restaurant in Paris.
"On February 22, while he was having dinner with a lawyer in a restaurant in the 12th arrondissement, a woman appeared and in a very short period of time violently grabbed the latter by the hair, throwing his head back and spit on his face.
Yesterday, Maïwenn admitted she did in fact do this. She was a guest on the live TV interview talk show “Quotidien” …
“Can you confirm? Can you say more?” host Yann Barthès asked the filmmaker (via Deadline).
“Can I confirm that I assaulted him, or that I received a complaint?” Maïwenn responded before clarifying, “I didn’t receive a complaint. I learned about it in the press.”
Barthès repeated, “And did you assault him?”
Maïwenn said, “Yes.”
Critics will now have their knives sharpened for Maïwenn‘s upcoming “Jeanne du Barry,” which stars Johnny Depp in a supporting role.
The Cannes opening night film now promises to be an event to remember, with Maïwenn and Depp walking the red steps and participating in the traditional press conference.
Maïwenn‘s victim, Plenel, is a well-known investigative journalist in France. Some in the French media are saying her assault against Plenel was payback for some of his outlet’s articles against Maïwenn‘s former lover Luc Besson.
Maïwenn met Besson at age 13, married him at 16, even had a child with him. They eventually separated, but remained friends. She’s even hinted that his film “Leon” was inspired by their relationship.
One can say that Maïwenn was already a target — she’s not a fan of the #MeToo movement and defended Roman Polanski after the Césars controversy. However, Cannes seems to be a fan of her work, they keep selecting her films and she even won the 2011 Jury Prize for “Polisse.”