Gérard Depardieu Found Guilty Of Sexual Assault; Given 18-Month Suspended Sentence
A Paris court has found Gérard Depardieu guilty of sexual assault and given him a 18-month suspended sentence.
The sentence follows a high-profile and tumultuous trial in Paris in March related to accusations of groping on the set of Jean Becker’s The Green Shutters in 2021.
The Green Card and Cyrano de Bergerac was not in court to hear the sentencing, and was instead represented by his lawyer Jérémie Assous.
The trial marked Depardieu’s first time in court against a backdrop of at least 20 public allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior against him, dating back decades, although many allegations have only come to light in recent years.
It is also seen as a landmark #MeToo test case in France, which was slow to embrace the movement, with a near omertà in the film world around the question of inappropriate behaviour until recently.
Depardieu is reportedly currently in Portugal on the set of Fanny Ardant’s upcoming film (Ela Olhava Sem Nada Ver), which is shooting on the island of Sao Miguel. Long-time friend Ardant is one of the few figures in the French film world to have remained publicly supportive of the actor.
The feature – about a love story between two women on a mysterious island – is Depardieu’s first film or TV role since 2022, following his fall from grace amid a raft of sexual assault allegations, which he has denied.
Depardieu could be back in the dock for a second time in the coming months in relation to rape allegations by actress Charlotte Arnould, dating back to 2018.
The Paris Prosecutor’s Office made a request for a trial last summer related to the allegations, which is making it way through the judicial system. The actor has denied the accusations.
Tuesday’s sentence is related to assaults on two female crew members on the set of The Green Shutters.
In the first, the actor pinned a set dresser with his legs and kneading her breasts, saying: “Come touch my big parasol, I’m going to shove it up your pussy”. In the second, a third assistant director, who testified under the pseudonym of Sarah, said Depardieu had touched her buttocks and breasts on two occasions when she was accompanying him on set.
Depardieu has repeatedly refuted both accounts saying his actions had been misinterpreted.
A number of women, who were not pressing charges, also gave evidence, including an actress who alleged Depardieu had shoved his hands into her knickers during a photo-call on the set of Netflix show Marseille.
