Jean-Claude Van Damme has been accused of having sex with five Romanian women illegally trafficked and ‘offered’ to the actor.
The allegations against the actor, 63, who has dismissed them as unfounded, related to an incident that took place nearly a decade ago.
Van Damme is facing a potential criminal investigation from Romanian authorities after a complaint was filed with police on April 2, according to The Telegraph.
It is alleged that the incident took place in 2015 in Cannes, France, at a television series launch party.
The Telegraph has reported that a criminal complaint was filed with the Romanian Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT).
One witness claimed: ‘When we got there, we realised we weren’t participating in a film festival event, but rather at the launch of a TV series starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, which was held in a hotel event room.’
They added that the organisers took five of his girls from the Fashion TV team and sent them to Van Damme.’
It is unclear if the actor was aware that the women were trafficked, and his representative called the allegations ‘absurd’.
Patrick Goavec, his agent, told USA Today: ‘Mr Van Damme does not wish to comment on or fuel this rumour, which is as absurd as it is unfounded.’
The outlet reports that the High Court of Cassation in France must now authorise criminal proceedings.
The complaint alleges that the actor made ‘use of services of an exploited person, an offence stipulated and punishable under Art. 216 of the criminal code, in conjunction with Art. 182 letters a), b), c) of the criminal code.’
The suspects identified in the investigation will then be summoned to Romania to give statements.
It is thought that the trafficking of the women was organised by a Romanian suspected sex trafficker and former head of a modelling agency, Morel Bolea.
Attorney Adrian Cuculis, who filed the complaint and represents a separate victim alleging she was groomed by Bolea in a separate incident, told The Telegraph that they were ‘offered’ to the star.
‘They were basically offered to Van Damme … this is the allegation that Jean-Claude Van Damme used the services of one or more exploited girls.’
He further explained: ‘They were there for [sic] making sexual intercourse with this guy … if Jean-Claude Van Damme hooked up with them in the club and they went and engaged in six-person intercourse, it’s perfectly fine.
‘But if somebody comes to you keeping her hand in his hand and says ‘OK off you go with him into the room’ this means something else.’
Van Damme is best known as a martial artist and as an action film star.
He first came to fame in the 1988 film Bloodsport, in which he played the lead role.
His most successful films include Lionheart, Death Warrant, Timecop, Sudden Death, Street Fighter and The Quest and he was considered a sex symbol in the late 1980s and 1990s.
More recently the actor has appeared in the 2025 French film The Gardener, in a voice role in the 2022 film Minions: The Rise of Gru, and in the 2024 film Darkness of Man.
Metro has reached out to Jean-Claude Van Damme’s representatives for comment.
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