French soccer superstar Kylian Mbappe has aggressively denied rape allegations that were recently made against him, as authorities in Sweden announced this week that they are opening an investigation into the woman’s claims.
The BBC reported Wednesday that Mbappe, 25, is the subject of a Swedish police investigation into a suspected rape in Stockholm last week.
The Swedish Prosecution Authority had announced Tuesday that “a criminal report has been submitted to the police,” but did not identify a suspect or a victim related to the alleged incident, which officials said took place on Oct. 10 at a hotel in central Stockholm.
Mbappe responded to the incident on social media, writing “FAKE NEWS!!!!” in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter). He also appeared to suggest that the rape allegations made against him were related to an upcoming hearing with his former team, Paris Saint-Germain, over roughly €55 million in wages he says are owed to him.
“It’s becoming so predictable, on the eve of the hearing, as if by chance,” Mbappe wrote, according to a French translation on the social media site.
Kylian Mbappe.
Michael Regan – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
The New York Times reported that Mbappe was visiting Sweden last week while on vacation and was traveling with friends and family at the time.
His attorney, Marie-Alix Canu-Bernard, appeared on French evening news program TF1 on Tuesday night and said she was “astonished” by the allegations and that her office is preparing to file a defamation lawsuit in response, BBC reported.
PEOPLE has reached out to Mbappe’s attorney for a statement regarding the allegations and the criminal complaint reportedly made against the Real Madrid player.
“[Kylian Mbappé] is never alone,” Canu-Bernard said, according to BBC. “He is never put in a position where he ends up in a situation that would lead to him taking a risk. As a result that totally rules out any possibility of reprehensible actions on his part. I can tell you that with absolutely certainty.”
