A new important step in the investigation into the allegations of sexual assault against Gerard Depardieu: the French actor, already under investigation for rape, will be tried in October 2024 in Paris for sexual assaults committed on two women during filming in 2021 , writes AFP.
Actor Gerard DepardieuPhoto: Bruno Murialdo / Zuma Press / Profimedia
“At the end of his pre-trial detention (…), Gerard Depardieu received a summons to appear before the Correctional Court,” the Paris Prosecutor’s Office announced on Monday evening, writes Agerpres, citing AFP.
According to French prosecutors, the 75-year-old actor will be tried in October 2024 for sexual assaults allegedly committed in September 2021 on two victims during the filming of the film “Les Volets Verts” by Jean Becker.
“There are certainly other victims”
“It’s a relief,” said lawyer Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, who is representing in court a decorator who accuses the movie star of sexually assaulting her during the filming of “Les Volets Verts.”
“There are certainly other victims. At this stage, between 20 and 25 women denounced acts that range from insults to sexist violence to harassment or sexual assaults. The time has come for him to be tried”, added the same lawyer, who also defends in court another woman who denounced acts committed by Gerard Depardieu in 2014.
Over eight hours of interrogation
Gerard Depardieu, targeted by several complaints for sexual assault, was summoned on Monday morning to be questioned in preventive detention at the headquarters of the Judicial Police in Paris. One of his lawyers, Christian Saint-Palais, announced at around 18:30 local time that the pre-trial detention regime in which the famous actor was found has been lifted.
“When someone is accused, there inevitably comes a moment when they have to give explanations. And so, today was one of those days when you have to explain the charges against you, which you dispute”, added the lawyer.
At least three women filed complaints against the actor Gerard Depardieu.
A decorator who worked on the team of the film “Les Volets Verts” filed a complaint in February 2024 for sexual assault, sexual harassment and sexist insults. The facts would date from September 2021 and would have happened in a private villa in Paris.
According to an article published in the daily newspaper Mediapart, Gerard Depardieu would have uttered several rude phrases during the filming, then would have touched the applicant in an unauthorized manner.
According to Mediapart, another woman, an assistant director during the same filming, accuses the French star of sexual violence and filed a complaint as well.
The trial in which Gerard Depardieu is to be tried in October will concern these two cases.
“From morning until evening, I only heard rude phrases”
During those filmings, “from morning until evening I only heard rude phrases”, said the actress Anouk Grinberg, in an interview for AFP. “When movie producers hire Depardieu for a movie, they know full well they’re hiring a bully,” she charged.
Another complaint was filed by a former assistant director. She accused Gerard Depardieu of sexual assault during the filming of “Le Magicien et les Siamois”, a feature film directed by Jean-Pierre Mocky in 2014.
The facts reported by the plaintiff, who was then 24 years old, have expired and the French star will not have to explain them during his trial in October.
At the same time, the famous actor has been indicted since 2020 for rape and sexual assault on a young actress, Charlotte Arnould.
The investigations were completed on April 17, and the Paris Prosecutor’s Office must now make a final decision, its representatives said. The investigating judge will then decide whether or not to order a trial.
Two other complaints were filed against the actor. One of them, filed by the actress Helene Darras for sexual assault during a filming in 2007, was rejected for prescription. The second one was filed in Spain by journalist and writer Ruth Baza, who accused the French star of raping her in 1995.
In total, approximately twenty women testified in the press or in front of the courts.
“I have never, ever, ever abused a woman”
Depardieu has always defended his innocence and did so vehemently in an open letter published in October 2023 in Le Figaro newspaper. “I have never, absolutely never, abused a woman,” the 75-year-old French actor said in that letter.
The world of French cinema has been shaken in recent months by a series of accusations of sexual violence by some actresses and actors.
After Gérard Depardieu, filmmakers Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon are being investigated for the rape of a minor, following a complaint filed by actress Judith Godreche.
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