Alan Ritchson Says Alleged Extortion Threat Tied to Cannes Hotel Led to Suicidal Depression

Actor Alan Ritchson has publicly described an alleged extortion attempt tied to a business trip in Cannes, France, that he says pushed him into a period of severe depression and a suicide attempt. This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988.

Speaking at FAN EXPO Canada, the “Reacher” star said the incident occurred when he was in his mid-30s and involved a former business partner he was working with while selling a film in Cannes. He alleged she threatened to tell TMZ that he had raped her in Cannes unless he came to her room at the Hotel du Cap.

“I was like in my mid-30s. I was depressed for the first time, and I was depressed because I had done everything right, and I had a falling out with a business partner that threatened to… if I didn’t go up to her hotel room, at the Hotel du Cap in Cannes when I was selling a film there, great success for her company that I was running, that she would call TMZ and tell the reporter that I raped her in Cannes, and she would ruin my life,” Ritchson said.

He added: “So it was like she was blackmailing me to come up, and I was like, ‘No, I’m not doing that.’ I didn’t want to do that.”

Ritchson did not name the woman. He said he refused to go to the hotel room and instead hired a litigator to fight the alleged threat, eventually reaching a settlement.

“I lost everything in that relationship; she was a billionaire, and she actually tanked every bit of our business and cost me a lot, and also the threat of that looming over my head – I hired a litigator to fight back and make sure that couldn’t happen,” Ritchson said. “I ended up winning a settlement, but I didn’t win anything because what I was left with was this uncertainty about what happens in life when you do good, you know, and like when you try your hardest.”

Ritchson said he “felt helpless” and described the aftermath as leaving him “really broken and depressed,” adding that he believed at the time it would be “a gift” to his family if they no longer had to deal with the fallout of the alleged scheme. He said he is a “suicide survivor.”

The remarks come as Ritchson navigates a separate personal change. Earlier this month, he and his wife, Catherine, announced in a joint Instagram statement that they had “decided to end our marriage and continue alongside one another in a different way” after 20 years together. The two married on May 12, 2006, and share three sons — Calem, Edan and Amory.

Ritchson is known for roles in “Smallville,” “Blue Mountain State,” “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” and “Titans,” and became a leading action star after taking the title role in “Reacher” in 2022.