A former Netflix bigwig has a warrant out for his arrest in the US after being accused of raping his wife multiple times, The Post has learned.
Diego Bunuel, 46, who was head of documentaries for the global streamer and now helms programming at state French broadcaster France Télévisions, allegedly assaulted his wife, writer and socialite Maggie Kim, in the US in 2017, according to court documents.
Bunuel, the French-born grandson of famed filmmaker Luis Bunuel, has been charged with felony rape of Kim, 48, in Massachusetts. The Post has confirmed the warrant for his arrest is still active.
Bunuel’s attorneys did not respond to numerous requests for comment on Monday.
Kim, who lives between Los Angeles and France, claims that she was left “in actual fear of her life” and struggling to escape as Bunuel allegedly told her that he wanted to hurt her, according to court documents.
While Bunuel, who has both US and French citizenship, can now not come back into the US without being arrested, he currently has custody of the couple’s two children and is living in France.
Kim claims that he will not let her bring the children — who also have dual US and French citizenship — back to the US, according to court papers.
He has yet to return to the United States to face the criminal charges. He has, through his counsel, filed a successful motion to dismiss a pending civil case based on the same alleged conduct. His motion to dismiss states that: “Nothing contained in this motion constitutes . . . an admission of any liability or wrongdoing on the part of Mr. Bunuel”.
There were three alleged rapes by Bunuel, including one on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, according to court documents that are publicly available.
Court papers seen by The Post were filed at Dukes County Superior Court in Massachusetts in the related civil lawsuit last year. They allege: “As a result of the willful and/or malicious conduct of the Defendant, the plaintiff sustained abrasions and contusions to her neck and body.
“In addition, the plaintiff suffered mental and emotional anguish, nervousness, increased heart rhythm, shortness of breath and increased blood pressure, some or all of which are likely to be permanent in nature.”
“As a further result of the willful and/or malicious conduct of the Defendant, the Plaintiff has been and will be unable to engage in personal and family, leisure and social activities as she did prior to the incidents, all of which has and will cause her loss,” Kim claimed in her complaint.
Bunuel and Kim were married from 2007 until 2017, tying the knot in Costa Rica. They are still not legally divorced.
Bunuel was given custody of the children through the French family court
In April, a Massachusetts judge dismissed Kim’s civil suit and ruled that a French court could oversee the rape case that allegedly happened in Martha’s Vineyard.
Kim’s attorney, Ryan McGuigan, is this week attempting to overturn this decision in court and told The Post how Kim has given a sworn affidavit to police on Martha’s Vineyard, alleging sexual assault by her estranged husband. The Post has not seen her affidavit.
McGuigan told The Post Monday: “It seems that Bunuel is using his arrest warrant as an excuse to prevent Miss Kim from taking her children back to the US, when they are US citizens.
“Even more shocking is that a judge in Massachusetts has dismissed Miss Kim’s civil claims of sexual battery that occurred on Martha’s Vineyard as the judge ruled he thought that she could bring this claim in France. The court decided that it was more convenient for the case to be brought in a foreign country, where the rape did not actually occur. We disagree.
In July 2017, the court papers filed by Kim allege that Bunuel raped her in the US 10 days after filing for divorce.
McGuigan claimed: “It appears Bunuel committed the sexual assault on Martha’s Vineyard after he had surreptitiously filed divorce papers in France.”
Kim, who previously shared homes with Bunuel in the French country, Paris and also the US, has now been splitting her time between LA and France, where she mostly stays so she can see her children.
“Martha’s Vineyard has long been a vacation destination of billionaire playboys, impaired senators and ex-presidents”, McGuigan said. “The Public could interpret it to mean that the powerful and the privileged on Martha’s Vineyard continue to receive preferential treatment when they abuse the under-privileged. What the Public could interpret from this case is that it is acceptable for someone to come to Martha’s Vineyard commit a crime and get away with it.”