Paris — French cinema icon Gérard Depardieu is in court in Paris this week, accused of sexually assaulting two women in 2021. A set designer, 34, and an assistant producer, 54, claim the actor grabbed and groped them while filming Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters) in Paris in August and September 2021.
The two women did not immediately report the alleged offenses. However, after the actor published an open letter in Le Figaro newspaper in October 2023 in which he stated: “Never, never have I abused a woman,” the set designer went to the police. She reported Depardieu for alleged sexual assault, sexual harassment and sexist insults.
The trial first opened in October, but it was adjourned due to Depardieu’s failing health. His lawyer told the court the 76-year-old was diabetic and had recently undergone a quadruple-bypass heart surgery.
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Medical experts later deemed him fit to attend the trial, but limited the hearings to six hours per day, with a provision for 15-minute pauses if Depardieu needed them. The trial that opened Monday was scheduled to run for only two days, but it may go longer if his health requires breaks in the proceedings.
A giant of French cinema, Depardieu has been more infamous than famous in recent years. He’s been accused of sexual misconduct by more than a dozen women in the movie industry. Many of the claims surfaced years after the alleged incidents took place, however, so under French law the actor cannot be tried for them.
In a high-profile move, the actor left his native France for a few years about a decade ago, moving to Belgium, having criticized French tax increases.
Depardieu has been open about his admiration for Russia under autocratic President Vladimir Putin, who bestowed Russian citizenship on him in 2013.
He later also became a citizen of Dubai.
Depardieu, who denies all the charges against him, faces five years in prison and a fine equivalent to about $80,000 if he is convicted.
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