French cinema legend Depardieu’s sexual assault trial opens without him

PARIS – The trial of French actor Gerard Depardieu on charges of sexual assault started on Monday in the absence of the celebrity, who declared that he was sick.

His lawyer, Jeremie Assous, had previously said Depardieu, 75, was “extremely affected” by his health and wanted the hearing to be postponed until he could attend.

When he arrived at the hearing, the lawyer said, “Unfortunately, his doctors forbade him from coming here today.”

He said he would ask the court to postpone the hearing for six months; This comes after numerous other complaints and with a possible second lawsuit already pending.

The actor is the most high-profile name to face accusations in the French cinema version of the #MeToo movement, which was triggered by allegations against US producer Harvey Weinstein in 2017.

Depardieu is facing accusations of harassment that allegedly occurred during a film shoot in 2021. The names of the two women who accused him have not been made public.

One of the plaintiffs, now 55, reported that she was subjected to sexual assault, sexual harassment and sexist slurs in February while filming director Jean Becker’s film “Les Volet Verts” (“The Green Shutters”) at a private house in Paris. .

“I expect the justice system to be the same for everyone and that Monsieur Depardieu will not receive special treatment just because he is an artist,” the plaintiff’s lawyer, Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, told AFP.

Assous said Depardieu’s defense would present “witnesses and evidence to show that he was targeted with false accusations.”

He accused the plaintiff of trying to “make money” by demanding 30,000 euros ($32,500) in damages.

The plaintiff told French investigative site Mediapart that Depardieu began loudly asking for a cooling fan during filming because he “couldn’t handle” the heat.

He claimed that the actor boasted that he could “make women orgasm without touching them.”

The plaintiff claimed she was “brutally grabbed” by Depardieu as she left the set an hour later.

The actor added that he pinned her around her by “closing her legs” and then pinned her around her waist and stomach, continuing down to her breasts.

Depardieu made “obscene remarks” during the incident, saying: “Come and touch my big umbrella. I’m going to put it in your pussy.”

She said the actor’s bodyguards dragged her away and the actor shouted, “We will see each other again, dear.”

“My client expects the justice system to find Gerard Depardieu a serial sexual predator,” Durrieu-Diebolt said. he said.

The second plaintiff in Monday’s lawsuit, an assistant director on the same film, also alleges sexual violence.

– ‘Recruiting the attacker’ –

Actor Anouk Grinberg, who starred in the TV series “Green Shutters”, told AFP that Depardieu used “obscene words from morning to night”.

“When the producers hired Depardieu to work on a film, they knew they were hiring an attacker,” he added.

Grinberg said that in his experience Depardieu “always used sexual and suggestive language” but that his behavior “was made much worse with the permission of his profession, which paid him off and covered up his crimes.”

Around 20 women accused Depardieu of various sexual crimes.

Actor Charlotte Arnould was the first to press charges.

A judge has yet to rule on prosecutors’ request to try Depardieu for rape and sexual assault in August.

An investigation is also ongoing in Paris after a former production assistant accused Depardieu of sexual assault in 2014.

Actor Helene Darras also filed a sexual assault complaint against the statute of limitations.

Spanish writer and journalist Ruth Baza accused Depardieu of raping her in 1995.

“I have never, ever harassed a woman,” Depardieu wrote in an open letter published in the conservative daily Le Figaro in October last year.

Weeks later, President Emmanuel Macron shocked feminists by complaining of a “manhunt” targeting Depardieu, whom he described as “a very strong actor” who “makes France proud”.

Macron’s remarks came after the investigative TV program aired a recording of Depardieu repeatedly making misogynistic and derogatory remarks about women.

Depardieu is the biggest star of French cinema to face accusations in the #MeToo movement.

Directors Jacques Doillon and Benoit Jacquot are among other prominent figures accused of sexual violence.

By Céline Bruneau