"A year ago my face was injured, blue, purple under my eye, I saw myself deformed," she wrote in the caption of her Instagram post.
Judith Chemla had indeed published Sunday, July 3, pictures of her swollen face, dated a year earlier.
In this post, the actress starring in the film
Tastes and Colors
(2022) accused her ex-companion of having hit her during an altercation, which occurred in July 2021.
A publication that the actress mentioned on the air of
France Inter
, this Wednesday, July 6.
“I did not premeditate this speech at all, she underlined.
I never imagined showing these photos.”
Before adding, at the mention of his former spouse, father of his 5-year-old daughter: “I am however flabbergasted that it never occurred to him that it was a possible thing.
He should be ashamed of what happened and keep quiet."
“For a year, I protected him despite everything”
The actress then delivered a poignant testimony on the domestic violence she suffered.
These would have started during her pregnancy.
"That's often the case, apparently, for women," she said.
All of a sudden, the woman's body belongs to them (
to the spouses, editor's note
) really, there is a being that comes from them inside.
So, you have to know everything about this body: how it was loved by others, how it was soiled by others.
She also revealed, sobs in her voice, which had pushed her to make the difficult decision to file a complaint against her former companion.
The latter would be none other than Yohan Manca, director of
My brothers and me
, presented in the Un certain regard selection of the Cannes Film Festival 2021, according to a Variety article published at the time.
The day after this altercation, the actress, who had not attended the preview of the film on the Croisette, had filed a complaint against the filmmaker for domestic violence.
"When I love, I love," she said.
I loved him, and for a year I protected him despite what had happened.
I filed a complaint because I saw that he was in a state of harm, and even to other women.
I was flabbergasted after this attack.”
“Madam, we must file a complaint”
The 30-year-old thus returned to the incident which allegedly took place on July 3, 2021, near the Théâtre du Rond-Point, in Paris, and during which the filmmaker allegedly threw a phone in her face.
"At that time, the police tell me: 'Madam, you have to file a complaint, because afterwards, it's feminicide.'
They were receiving three calls at the same time at that second, from women victims of domestic violence.
Judith Chemla was initially unable to bring herself to initiate legal proceedings.
“I say nothing, I am flabbergasted, she remembers.
I don't see myself filing a complaint against my daughter's father.
I don't have the inner click, you know?
You have to click, you have to want it.”
What Judith Chemla describes as a night of guilt ensues.
The actress says: “During these five years, I fell in love with someone else, she confided.
Nothing happened physically, but I fell in love.
And the feelings are not condemnable.
They arrive, the heart opens at some point.”
Before describing the reaction of his companion: “He discovers it, and says to me: “I did not move an ear, but you are fickle. You are like all these actresses. What are you going to do? You have two children from two different fathers.” He would then have asked her not to file a complaint, and would have made sure to “turn the situation” to his advantage, presenting himself as the victim of their conflict.
The actress related the following events to Léa Salamé.
“He is at my house, he is waiting for me”
“I am collected by a friend, she remembered.
He makes me believe that he is at his mother's, that he has taken medication, that he is out of harm's way.
I come home at 2 a.m., completely flabbergasted.
He calls me asking where I am.
I'm going home and there I hear the ringing of the washing machine which stops.
He's at my house, he's waiting for me.
What would have happened if I had gone upstairs?
At this moment, a friend calls her, and dissuades her from going home.
The next day, this friend tells him the story of another woman, who called her the day before, “terrorized”.
The latter would have maintained a relationship with a man already in a relationship, and this, for two years.
He would now threaten her with destroying her life if she talks about their romance.
This man would be none other than the companion of Judith Chemla.
“And there, I tell myself that he cannot harm this woman, that she is not my enemy,” said the actress.
In video, Camille Lellouche recounts the domestic violence of which she was the victim
Abortion after a month
This is what would have decided to file a complaint for the first time.
Her former spouse was then placed in police custody, before being released under judicial supervision.
“July 6 is the end of his police custody, she continued.
On July 6, I had an abortion.
I was one month pregnant.
Luckily I was able to do it."
After four months of "intense" harassment, Judith Chemla decides to file a complaint again.
“He ruined all his chances”
His ex-companion is sentenced on May 12.
Which wouldn't have changed the situation.
“Despite an eight-month suspended prison sentence, he makes threats, he continues to think that he is a victim, she added.
That seeing his daughter every other weekend, having lunch with her every Tuesday noon, seeing her half the holidays, that's not enough.
He doesn't question himself."
The actress asks him today for an “immediate awareness”, and maintains that she has recordings of domestic violence “edifying”, but never wanted to harm him.
“I wanted his film to work, that he could continue to work, she said.
I never spoke.
I wanted my daughter's father to be successful, to exercise his talent.
I wanted to give him a chance as a father, as a man, as an artist.
He has screwed up all his chances one after the other because he feels he is above the law.
“Never withdraw a complaint”
The actress also considered herself lucky to have had the financial means to no longer work, in order to take care of her children in these troubled times.
She then invited the victims of domestic violence to file a complaint against their executioners.
“Do it ladies, do not be afraid, she hammered.
Never, ever, ever withdraw a complaint you file.
You will be intimidated, I have been intimidated, made to feel guilty.”
Before continuing, very moved: "I have received testimonies that tell me:" Thanks to you, I am taking up the fight again.
"I had no choice"
Judith Chemla also spoke of the importance for her of sensitizing her 5-year-old daughter to this violence.
“He (
his former companion, Editor
's note ) complains to her about the situation, of not seeing her enough, when technically he sees her every week.
She comes back saying: "Why did you ask for justice, why are you deciding on dad's life? Why don't we do it like before?" Words against which the actress "decided to to fight".
"These words from my daughter who said to me: 'Me one day, if someone hurts me, I will not ask justice to protect me.'
(…) I will fight so that she knows that she must protect herself and thus protect other women.
And for him to understand that if he doesn't change, his daughter will be a consenting battered wife.
And the actress to conclude: “We had to show the wounds for people to become aware of things.
It came out on its own, I had no choice.
