Adèle Haenel, the actress, has been focusing entirely on theater since the end of the legal episode involving filmmaker Christophe Ruggia, who was sentenced to five years in prison for sexual assaults on a minor. Her public statements have been rare for the past five years. On Saturday, April 25, she was a guest on the TV show “C dans l’air” to discuss the conclusion of the legal case with Christophe Ruggia. Ruggia was sentenced to five years in prison, with two jail terms, for sexual assaults when Haenel was 12 to 14 years old.
During a ten-minute exchange, the presenter questioned Haenel about her future in the film industry. In 2023, she bid farewell to the cinema industry, criticizing it as complicit with sexual predators and propagating problematic narratives of racism and sexism. She now plans to continue her career in theater where she has been active in various plays like “Suzanne,” “Der Teich,” “Le Voyage sans Fin,” and “EXTRA LIFE.”
Haenel expressed relief at the end of a long legal battle and wants to talk about the present, particularly the protection of children from abuse. She is known for her political activism on the extreme left, supporting feminism, LGBT rights, anti-racism, and against capitalist models.
In 2020, she left the César Awards after they honored Roman Polanski, a filmmaker accused of sexual abuse. Haenel emphasized her ongoing activism for justice in a world she sees as sliding towards fascism in her recent appearance on France 5.
