French actor Gérard Depardieu arrives for trial in Paris over alleged sexual assaults on film set

By Canadian Press on March 24, 2025.

PARIS (AP) — French actor Gérard Depardieu arrived to a Paris courthouse on Monday to stand trial over accusations he sexually assaulted two women during the filming of a movie in 2021.

Depardieu, 76, is facing charges that he groped a 54-year-old set dresser and a 34-year-old assistant director during production of the film “Les Volets Verts” (“The Green Shutters”). The actor denies any wrongdoing.

Prosecutors allege the cases included obscene remarks and inappropriate touching, including an incident in which Depardieu allegedly used his legs to trap one of the women before groping her in front of other crew members. Both women have filed formal complaints.

The Associated Press doesn’t name people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they consent to being identified, which neither has in this case.

The two-day trial was initially scheduled for October, but was postponed because of Depardieu’s health. A verdict is expected at a later date.

Depardieu’s lawyer, Jérémie Assous, said that the actor had undergone a quadruple heart bypass and suffers from diabetes. A court-appointed medical expert determined that he’s fit to stand trial. He is expected to attend the two-day hearing, reportedly with scheduled breaks.

“From the beginning, he has always rejected all accusations,” Assous said on French radio RMC on Monday. Depardieu “considers that he ought to defend himself in court and explain himself to judges as a matter of priority. That’s what we’re going to do.”

Carine Durrieu Diebolt, the lawyer for one of the two plaintiffs, said on France Info radio that her client “is calmly awaiting the outcome of the case … because the case is solid.”

Durrieu Diebolt said that four additional women who say they have been sexually assaulted by Depardieu will speak at the trial as witnesses.

This is the first time that Depardieu, one of France’s most prominent film actors, has been tried over sexual assault allegations. He has previously been accused publicly or by formal complaints of misconduct by more than 20 women, but no other case has proceeded to court. Some were dropped because of a lack of evidence or the statute of limitations.

In a separate case, French actor Charlotte Arnould accused Depardieu of two rapes allegedly committed in August 2018. Depardieu was charged in 2020 with rape and sexual assault in that case, and in August 2024 prosecutors requested it go to trial, but a magistrate has yet to make the decision.

In an open letter published in Le Figaro in October 2023, Depardieu wrote: “Never, but never, have I abused a woman.”

Before the opening of the trial, some activists gathered outside the courthouse in northern Paris.

A dozen activists from “Bruit qui court,” a collective of artist and activists, performed a choreographed dance to techno music while chanting: “Sexist violence, complicit judicial system.” Others held signs with various slogans criticizing Depardieu.

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Thomas Adamson contributed to this report.

Sylvie Corbet And John Leicester, The Associated Press

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