French actor Gerard Depardieu has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two women – and handed an 18-month suspended sentence.
Depardieu, 76, who has appeared in more than 200 movies, was convicted by a court in Paris of groping the women during the filming of the 2021 film Les Volets Verts.
Both of his victims had been working on the film in behind-the-scenes roles.
They said they were scared to speak out at the time and intimidated by Depardieu. “I was petrified”, said one of the women, a set designer named Amelie.
She told the court that Depardieu had trapped her between his legs as she tried to get past him in a corridor, and had then run his hands over her body. “He terrified me – he looked like a madman,” she said.
However, his victims said that he attacked them – first using obscene, vulgar and explicit language towards the women before sexually assaulting them.
The court heard that the actor first used vulgar language to abuse them and then grabbed them and ran his hands over their bodies, making crude sexual advances towards them.
Depardieu claimed that he did not even know what sexual assault was.
But judge Thierry Donard said Depardieu’s explanation of events had been unconvincing and, at times, contradictory.
During cross-questioning, Depardieu admitted that he had first denied ever touching Amelie, then said he grasped her hips to stop himself from falling over, and then claimed he had grabbed her to get her attention.
Amelie described his account as “obviously completely false” and said she had been mentally scarred by the encounter.
Depardieu’s reputation is now in tatters, and there may be more allegations to come.
And we already know that Depardieu will stand trial again later this year, this time charged with raping the actress Charlotte Arnould.
Ms Arnould has accused Depardieu, a friend of her parents, of raping her at his mansion in Paris.
When she returned to the house to confront him, she alleges that he raped her once again. Depardieu denies both allegations. If he were to be found guilty, he would face a substantial prison sentence.
Depardieu’s sexual assault conviction is being seen as an important step forward for France’s growing MeToo movement, which he described as “a terror” during the proceedings.
After a letter of support Depardieu received prior to the trial from prominent actors and directors, a separate group of around 600 artists wrote their own, condemning the culture of “impunity” and calling for the actor to be fully investigated.
Emmanuelle Dancourt, president of MeToo Media, told me: “Depardieu is a man with a lot of money around him.
A recent documentary about him featured footage, filmed in North Korea, of the actor making lewd comments as a young girl rode past on a horse.
When Mr Macron offered his support to Depardieu, denouncing what he called “a manhunt” against the star, another French actor, James Bond star Lea Seydoux, said the president’s words had given a “bad image” of France.
Depardieu was given Russian citizenship as a gift by Vladimir Putin.
