Names and faces
■ Actress Judith Godreche called on France’s film industry to “face the truth” on sexual violence and physical abuse Friday during the Cesar Awards ceremony, France’s version of the Oscars. “We can decide that men accused of rape no longer rule the [French] cinema,” Godreche said. “Let’s have the courage to say out loud what we know quietly.” Godreche, 51, recently accused two film directors of rape and sexual abuse when she was a teenager. She formally filed a complaint earlier this month, the Paris prosecutor said. She is accusing film director Benoi Jacquot, with whom she had a six-year relationship that started when she was 14, of rape and physical abuse. Jacquot is 25 years her senior. She is also accusing film director Jacques Doillon of sexual abuse while he was directing a film when she was 15. Doillon is 28 years older than her. Jacquot and Doillon have denied the allegations. Jacquot told the Le Monde newspaper that he “doesn’t feel directly concerned” by Godreche’s accusations, with whom he said he fell in love at the time. He denied any abuse of authority. In a statement to international news agency Agence France-Presse, Doillon said “the just cause doesn’t justify arbitrary denunciations, false accusations and lies.”
■ Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager extended olive branches to Kelly Rowland — an opportunity to return to the “Today” show and promises to spruce up their backstage accommodations. The co-anchors discussed making amends with the “Mea Culpa” star and former Destiny’s Child singer a week after she reportedly walked off the “Today” show. This month, Page Six reported that Rowland and her team abruptly left the New York studio due to a disappointing dressing room. “There’s no one who’s more gracious or grateful than Kelly,” Kotb told Entertainment Tonight Wednesday. “We’ve been texting back and forth. … I gave her a call, I said, ‘C’mon girl, we’re waiting. We’ll do a redo.’” Rowland was set to co-host a segment of the “Today” show with Kotb. After her abrupt exit, singer Rita Ora, who was scheduled as a guest, filled the spot. A representative for Rowland praised the singer — “one of the kindest, most amiable humans I have ever met” — last week but did not confirm or deny whether the dressing room played a role in the singer-actor’s sudden “Today” exit. Kotb, however, admitted Wednesday that “our dressing rooms are not the greatest.” “None of them are great,” she said. “It’s kind of the charm of the ‘Today’ show.” Bush Hager offered to beautify the “Today” dressing rooms, expressing her interest in interior design.