13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
Hollywood actor Gerard Depardieu guilty of sexually assaulting two women on film set
A French court has found actor Gerard Depardieu guilty of sexually assaulting two women on a film set.
Hollywood actor Gerard Depardieu has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on a 2021 film set.
The 76-year-old French actor, who had roles in over 200 movies and wasn't present as the verdict was being read out, was convicted by the Paris Correctional Court of groping two women while filming Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters) in 2021, reports the Mirror.
Both victims had behind-the-scenes roles on the film set. A 34-year-old assistant producer referred to as Sarah and Amélie, 54, a set designer, said they were intimidated by the actor and were scared to speak out about the assault at the time.
The set designer called Amelie said: "I was petrified." The actor trapped her between his legs when she was trying to get past him in a corridor, Amelie told the court.
He then ran his hands over her body. Amelie said: "He terrified me - he looked like a madman."
The two women said the star sexually assaulted them by grabbing them and running his hands over their bodies after first using vulgar and explicit language towards them to abuse them.
The court heard he made crude sexual advances towards the victims.
Barrister Carine Durrieu Diebolt, who was representing the set designer, said Amelie was typical of victims who were 'afraid to speak out '. Ms Durrieu Diebolt said: "These women are all technicians, doing minor jobs in the film industry.
"There's a risk of reprisals. They are afraid of speaking, of being blacklisted, of being viewed as troublemakers in the workplace."
Depardieu claimed he didn't know what sexual assault was. He had denied the allegations made against him and previously received the support from the likes of French president Emmanuel Macron.
A female lawyer at his trial previously described him as a ' sex attacker ' who 'preys on the weak' when he denied the charges against him.
It comes after French veteran film star Fanny Ardant, spoke out in his defence. Barriest Currieu Diebolt said: "He didn't grope Fanny Ardant. He wouldn't have done that to Fanny Ardant. Mr Depardieu is strong with the weak and weak with the strong."
Durrieu Diebolt labelled the case a 'French Me Too ', and said other women would have pressed charges against the controversial actor if it hadn't been for the French statute of limitations, which prevents cases dating back more than a decade from being prosecuted.
She said: "If not for that, there would have been 20 women instead of two in court. Perhaps you consider that he's a great actor and you like his films, and you don't see him as a sexual attacker, but he is also a man of wealth."
He has previously been accused publicly or via formal complaints of misconduct by over 20 women, but no other case has gone to court. Some were dropped due to lack of evidence.
The actor has been, since December, 16, 2020, indicted over allegations of rape and sexual assault filed in 2018, as part of a separate case. In a report published by French investigative news website Médiapart in April 2023, Depardieu was also accused by 13 women of sexually inappropriate behaviour.
Today, Depardieu was believed to be filming with Ardant in Portugal.
* If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999
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