French actor Gerard Depardieu is due to appear in court today and tomorrow (March 24 and 25) in Paris to be trialed on charges of sexual assault.
The trial was initially scheduled to take place on Oct. 28 and was postponed due to the 76 year-old actor’s health.
Depardieu is being tried on two alleged sexual assaults, which date back to the filming of Jean Becker’s “The Green Shutters” (“Les volets verts”) in the South of France in August and September 2021. He was taken into police custody on April 29, 2024 and was summoned to appear before the criminal court in October.
Based on the charges, Depardieu — long considered a mascot of France’s cinematic history who has starred in over 150 films, including classics such as Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s “Cyrano de Bergerac” — risks five years of imprisonment and a fine of €75,000.
In a letter sent to the prosecutor on Feb. 23, 2024, Amelie K., who worked as a set decorator on “The Green Shutters,” accused Depardieu of having sexually assaulted and harassed her on Sept. 10, 2021, during filming. Amelie K said she overheard Depardieu make several crude comments, and alleges that one day, as she walked past him sitting in a corridor, he grabbed her, pulled her toward him, blocked her with his legs and kneaded her on the waist, hips and chest, while making obscene comments.
A second woman, Engela W., who was working as Becker’s assistant on “The Green Shutters,” accused Depardieu of sexually assaulting her on Aug. 31, 2021. She lodged a complaint on March 21, 2024 and reported that Depardieu had touched her buttocks in the street, then touched her breasts a few days later on location and touched her buttocks again on another occasion.
Depardieu has denied all accusations. Variety has contacted Depardieu’s attorney, Jérémie Assous, for comment on the trial’s outcome.
Depardieu’s attorney told the French radio station RMC that his client “wants to tell his truth because he is the victim of false accusations,” and added that “we are going to move from a damning case to one that will be in favor of Gérard Depardieu.”
As part of a separate case, the 75-year-old famous French actor has been, since Dec. 16, 2020, indicted over allegations of rape and sexual assault filed by actress Charlotte Arnould in 2018.
Last August, the Paris public prosecutor’s office requested in a final indictment that Depardieu be referred to the departmental criminal court to stand trial for rape by digital penetration and sexual assault that allegedly occurred on Aug. 7 and 13, 2018. The examining magistrate now has to decide what direction to give to the proceedings.
Depardieu, who has triggered a watershed moment for the #MeToo movement in France, was also accused by 13 women of sexually inappropriate behavior in a report published by French investigative news website Médiapart in April 2023. Depardieu vehemently denied all the accusations, and in October penned a letter for the newspaper Le Figaro in which he stated, “Never ever have I abused a woman.”
