French prosecutors said Wednesday they had requested pop icon Patrick Bruel be charged and placed in pre-trial detention over nine allegations of sexual abuse including rape and sexual assault. The 67-year-old, a major figure in French pop culture with multiple top selling albums and dozens of film appearances, has denied any wrongdoing. He is the latest top French celebrity to face investigators in the wake of the #MeToo movement, after film legend Gerard Depardieu was handed a suspended 18-month prison sentence last year for sexually assaulting two women on a film set.