Alain Delon's children filed a complaint on July 5, 2023, against the actor's companion for moral harassment and misappropriation of correspondence, their lawyer told AFP. Photo: AFP
The children of French film legend Alain Delon lodged a police complaint against his live-in assistant on Wednesday on claims of harassment and "threatening" behaviour, their lawyer told AFP.
Delon, 87, was one of France's biggest film stars at the height of his career, an icon of the 1960s New Wave who appeared in classics such as The Swimming Pool and The Leopard.
The lawyer, Christophe Ayela, said that Delon has been in a weakened condition since a cardio-vascular incident in 2019, prompting the hiring of a woman to assist him at his home in the Loiret region of central France.
"She has shown herself to be more and more aggressive, disparaging and offensive towards him and his children," Ayela said.
"I suspect an abuse of frailty, and I am counting on an investigation to establish it."
The complaint was lodged by Delon's children Anouchka, Alain-Fabien and Anthony, and the actor added his name via a written declaration.
The assistant "systematically monitors his telephone conversations and private messages. She answers in his place, pretending to be him, and she tries to intercept his postal mail," Ayela claimed.
"She is authoritarian, threatening, even going so far as to mistreat Mr Delon's dog in an unacceptable way," he added.
Anthony Delon had lodged an additional complaint with police for "violence towards a vulnerable person," the lawyer told AFP, adding that the woman's alleged behaviour had been going on for at least 18 months.
"On January 31, 2022, I made the decision to start notifying and reporting facts that took place... between my father Alain Delon and his female companion," Anthony Delon said in a statement sent to AFP.
Delon rarely appeared on screen after the 1990s. His last major public appearance was to receive an honorary Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2019. – AFP
