(Paris) An investigation was opened after a complaint from a decorator accusing French actor Gérard Depardieu of having sexually assaulted her during the filming of Green shutters in 2021, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday, confirming information from the investigation site Mediapart.
This is the third investigation in France targeting the 75-year-old actor.
The French cinema giant has been indicted since December 2020 for rape and sexual assault on actress Charlotte Arnould, and an investigation was opened after the complaint in January from a former film assistant, who accused him of sexual assault in 2014 .
Mr. Depardieu’s lawyer, Mr.e Christian Saint-Palais did not respond to requests from AFP.
The complainant, named Amélie and aged 53, sent a complaint to the Paris prosecutor’s office on February 23.
She denounces acts of sexual assault, sexual harassment and sexist outrages committed by Gérard Depardieu during the filming of the film Green Shuttersdirected by Jean Becker, on which she was production designer.
According to his story to Mediapart, the actor of Cyrano de Bergerac would have made numerous gravelly remarks during filming in Paris, on September 10, 2021, then later would have “grabbed her brutally” and would have “kneaded her waist, her stomach, going up to her breasts”.
The reported attack was reportedly interrupted by the actor’s bodyguards. “His bodyguards took him away,” she told Mediapart. “He was screaming and laughing to himself. He said to me: “We’ll see each other again, my darling!” I was stunned, shaken. It only lasted a few moments, but it still resonates,” she said.
In an interview with AFP published Tuesday, actress Anouk Grinberg, also in the credits of Green shuttersrecounted the “salaceries” of Gérard Depardieu “from morning to evening” during filming.
“There was, it seems, a lady (referent) dedicated to (preventing) attacks. She was never introduced to me, […] she never supported women who were attacked. She never intervened when we heard about pussy, pussy, cock, getting sucked,” she assured.
“Never, ever have I abused a woman,” Gérard Depardieu said in an open letter published in the French daily Le Figaro 1er October, referring to the accusations of Charlotte Arnould.