(Paris) New important step in the accusations of sexual violence targeting Gérard Depardieu: the French actor, already indicted for rape, will be tried next October in Paris for sexual assault on two women during filming in 2021.
“At the end of his custody […]Gérard Depardieu was given a summons to appear before the criminal court,” indicated the Paris prosecutor’s office.
“He will be tried in October 2024 for sexual assaults likely to have been committed in September 2021 to the detriment of two victims, on the set of the film “The Green Shutters”” by Jean Becker, he added.
“It’s a relief”, reacted to AFP Me Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, who represents a decorator accusing the actor of having sexually assaulted her on The green shutters.
“There are certainly other victims. At this stage, around 20 to 25 women have denounced facts ranging from contempt to sexist violence, including harassment or sexual assault. It is time for him to be judged,” added the lawyer, who also defends a woman denouncing acts committed in 2014.
Gérard Depardieu, targeted by complaints of sexual assault, was summoned Monday morning to be questioned in police custody in the premises of the judicial police.
One of his lawyers, Christian Saint-Palais, announced shortly before 6:30 p.m. to the press that the actor’s custody was “over”.
“When a person is implicated, inevitably, there comes a time when they have to explain themselves. And so today was one of those days where you have to explain the accusations made against you and which you contest,” added the lawyer.
At least three women have filed complaints against the 75-year-old actor.
The production designer on the set of Green shutters filed a complaint in February for sexual assault, sexual harassment and gender-based insults. The facts date back to September 2021 and allegedly took place in a private hotel in Paris.
According to his account to Mediapart, the actor would have made numerous gravelly comments during filming, then later would have “grabbed her brutally” and would have “kneaded her waist, her stomach, going up to her breasts” .
According to Mediapart, another woman, assistant director on the same shoot, accuses the actor of sexual violence and has also filed a complaint.
The trial of Cyrano’s interpreter will focus on these two accusations.
During this filming, “from morning to evening, we had the right to our salacious comments”, testified the actress Anouk Grinberg, in an interview with AFP. “When film producers hire Depardieu on a film, they know that they are hiring an aggressor,” she accused.
Another complaint is made by a former filming assistant. She accuses Gérard Depardieu of sexual assault during the filming of the film The Magician and the Siamese » by Jean-Pierre Mocky in 2014.
“His hands everywhere”
The complainant, 24 years old at the time, spoke to the newspaper Western Mail “his hands all over (his) body” and the actor’s “indecent words”.
The facts being prescribed, the actor will not have to explain these facts during the trial.
The sacred monster of French cinema has also been indicted since 2020 for rape and sexual assault on a young actress, Charlotte Arnould.
The investigations have been completed since April 17 and the prosecution must now take its requisitions, said the prosecution.
It will then be up to the investigating magistrate to order or not a trial.
Two other complaints were filed against the actor. One, filed for prescription, by the actress Hélène Darras for sexual assault during filming in 2007. The second in Spain, by the journalist and writer Ruth Baza who accuses him of having raped her in 1995.
In total, around twenty women testified in the press or in court.
“Never, ever, have I abused a woman,” the actor for his part affirmed in October 2023 in Le Figaroreferring to Charlotte Arnould’s accusations.
The world of French cinema has been hit by a succession of accusations of sexual violence from actresses and actors in recent months.
After Gérard Depardieu, filmmakers Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon are the target of an investigation for rape of a minor, following a complaint filed by actress Judith Godrèche.