A French court has found actor Gerard Depardieu guilty of sexually assaulting two women on a 2021 film set
Gerard Depardieu has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two women on a 2021 film set. The French actor, 76, 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.
His victims had behind-the-scenes roles on the film set. Both victims, a 34-year-old assistant producer referred to as Sarah and Amélie, 54, a set designer, were scared to speak out about the assault at the time and said they were intimidated by the actor.
“I was petrified”, one of the women, a set designer called Amelie, said. Amelie told the court the actor trapped her between his legs when she was trying to get past him in a corridor.
He then ran his hands over her body. Amelie said: “He terrified me – he looked like a madman.”
The two women said the star first used vulgar and explicit language towards them to abuse them before sexually assaulting them by grabbing them and running his hands over their bodies.
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. Depardieu had denied the allegations made against him and previously received the support from the likes of French president Emmanuel Macron.
He was previously described as a ‘sex attacker’ who ‘preys on the weak’ by a female lawyer at his trial 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.”
Depardieu was today believed to be filming with Ardant in Portugal.
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