French film star Gérard Depardieu has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on a film set in 2021. The 76-year-old actor was given a suspended jail term of 18 months. Depardieu had denied the allegations against him, and his lawyer said he would appeal.
The court in Paris found that one of the women, a set designer named Amélie, had given consistent evidence while the actor’s accounts had changed over time. Amélie told reporters afterwards she was “very moved” and satisfied with the verdict, which for her was a victory.
Carine Durrieu-Diebolt, the lawyer acting for the two women, said, “It’s a victory for two women on a film set but it’s a victory for all the women behind this case and I’m thinking of all of Depardieu’s other victims.” The case marked one of the highest-profile #MeToo tests in France.
During the trial, prosecutor Laurent Guy said, “It’s perfectly possible to be an excellent actor and a great father – and still commit a crime. You are not here to pass judgment on French cinema. You are here to judge Gérard Depardieu, just as you would any other citizen.” The prosecutor had asked for a suspended prison term of 18 months, as well as a €20,000 fine and registration on the sex-offenders’ list.
Depardieu’s defence team demanded an acquittal, with Jérémie Assous describing the plaintiffs’ team as “more militants than lawyers.” Assous said, “They cannot bear that there should even be a defence. They think any defence is a supplementary assault.”
The alleged assaults took place in September 2021 when Depardieu was making a film called Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters). Several other women have made similar allegations in the media, and an alleged rape case could come to trial in the future.
At the end of the hearings, Depardieu said, “My name has been dragged through the mud by lies and insults. A trial can be a very special experience for an actor. Seeing all this anger, the police, the press. It’s like being in a science fiction film, except it’s not science fiction. It’s life.”
Fanny Ardant, who appeared with Depardieu in Les Volets Verts and spoke in his defence at the trial, described him as “the monster and the saint,” saying, “Genius – in whatever form it takes – carries within it an element of the extravagant, the untamed, the dangerous.”
In contrast, Brigitte Bardot, 90, expressed her support for Depardieu, saying, “Feminism isn’t my thing. Personally, I like men. Talented people who touch the buttocks of a girl are not to be consigned to the deepest dungeon,” she deplored.