Cannes Film Festival 2021: Jodie Turner-Smith robbed of jewellery in hotel theft

The actress reported the crimes after robbers broke into her hotel room over the weekend

Jodie Turner-Smith wears Gucci high jewellery on the Cannes red carpet. Reuters

Actress Jodie Turner-Smith was the victim of theft while appearing at the Cannes Film Festival, after burglars made off with jewellery after breaking into her hotel room.

The Queen & Slim star, 34, filed a police report in the French town after the break-in, which occurred on Friday.

Turner-Smith, who attended the festival to promote her latest film, sci-fi drama After Yang, confirmed on Sunday that she had visited local police.

"Didn’t think I would be spending 2.5 hours in the police station on my final day in Cannes, but here we are," the British actress tweeted.

Her publicist confirmed to Variety that she had reported the jewellery theft, which took place the day after Turner-Smith attended the premiere of the drama Stillwater.

The actress wore several high jewellery pieces by Gucci on the red carpet, along with a dramatic, ombre feathered gown by the luxury label.

Local newspaper Nice-Matin reported that the theft took place at an unnamed hotel on the Croisette, Cannes' famed seaside promenade, with the jewels taken estimated to be worth tens of thousands of euros.

Neither Turner-Smith nor her publicist have confirmed details about the items stolen.

The actress, who is married to Dawson's Creek actor Joshua Jackson, was last week revealed as the new face of Gucci's high jewellery collection, sporting gold and yellow diamond pieces from the label at the festival.

Despite the incident, Turner-Smith remained in Cannes and attended a Kering Women in Motion talk on Sunday, where she discussed the importance of creating greater opportunities for women in the film industry.

"I want to make my life about not only working with incredible directors, but working with women, working with women of colour," she said.

"Using the opportunities that I have to give opportunities to people where the industry is being gate-kept to them or [who] are not being given the level of respect they deserve when they are extremely talented."

This is not the first major jewellery theft to have taken place in the French Riviera town. In 2015, days before the start of the film festival, robbers looted €17.5 million ($20 million) in jewellery and watches from a local boutique. In 2013, meanwhile, a whopping €40 million of diamonds and other jewels were stolen from the InterContinental Carlton Cannes, during a temporary jewellery exhibit.

This year's Cannes festival, which has been moved from its usual May dates owing to the pandemic, runs until Saturday. The event, which this year has attracted the likes of Sean Penn, Marion Cotillard and Matt Damon to the seaside town, was cancelled entirely in 2020 after the spread of Covid-19.