El País, a Spanish-language newspaper based in Madrid that is the second-largest newspaper in the country, is reporting that filmmaker Carlos Vermut sexually abused three women.
Vermut, winner of the San Sebastián Film Festival’s Golden Shell for the neo-noir movie Magical Girl (2014), said his relationships with his accusers were consensual. He was interviewed three times by the media outlet, and claimed not to have been “aware of having exercised sexual violence against any woman.”
“I have always practiced rough sex in a consensual manner, because I believe that consent is very important,” he said. “It’s another thing if the person… if she later felt bad — and maybe, at the time, was afraid to say it — I can’t know that.
“I would like it to be published that I’ve had many relationships of many types, always wanting the other person to be ok. And I think that having had a promiscuous sexual life — and having had many different types of sex — can lead you to situations like these.”
A film student, an employee of one of his productions, and a worker in the cultural sector have reported that the director allegedly took advantage of his prominence in the world of cinema in order to have violent sexual relations with them. They denied consenting.
The events they describe took place between May of 2014 and February of 2022 and are given graphic detail in the media outlet’s accounts.
None of the women reported what happened to the police because — according to what they say — two of them were afraid of losing their jobs, while another was afraid of not being able to get one.
The three women who have made allegations against Vermut don’t want their names to be published. The media outlet claimed it has obtained sworn statements from the three women. It also said it had emails, photos, and WhatsApp conversations with the director and the people around him, as well as interviews with 31 workers in the film industry.
Carlos López del Rey, better known by his stage name Carlos Vermut, began in Spanish cinema with his debut film, Diamond Flash (2011). His second feature film was Magical Girl (2014).
In the last edition of the Goya Awards, Spain’s equivalent of the Oscars, Vermut competed for the Award for Best Director.
