“I took him in my arms and kissed him”: when Gérard Depardieu and the “king of the paparazzi” make peace in Rome

The truculent French actor, Gérard Depardieu, accused of physical assault against the “king of the Italian paparazzi”, made peace with him last Monday in Rome, putting an end to a trial which began in June 2025.

“Yes, we reached an agreement and we are happy about it,” Fabrizio Siggia, Mr. Depardieu’s lawyer, told reporters outside Harry’s Bar in Rome, a famous café on Via Veneto where the altercation between the two men occurred more than a year and a half ago.

Rino Barillari, an 80-year-old Italian nicknamed the “king of the paparazzi”, had accused the French actor of having physically attacked him on May 24, 2024, with Gérard Depardieu claiming for his part to have “interposed himself between the paparazzo and his partner”.

“Today I withdrew the complaint, first because he apologized, not only to me but to all Italians, and then out of respect for the character that I have always loved and will always love as a great actor,” Mr. Barillari told journalists.

Gérard Depardieu awaiting trial for rape

The reconciliation took place “quietly, I took him in my arms and kissed him”, he added. Asked about his relationship with the photographer, Gérard Depardieu claimed to have “not had a bad relationship at all” with him.

Rino Barillari, who began his career at a very young age, experienced the golden age of “Dolce Vita” in Rome, where he photographed celebrities like Liz Taylor, Ingrid Bergman, Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, Gina Lollobrigida and Marcello Mastroianni.

Icon of French cinema, Gérard Depardieu, 77, was sentenced last spring to 18 months’ suspended imprisonment for sexual assault during filming in Paris in 2021 – he appealed – and was referred to the Paris criminal court for the rapes denounced by actress Charlotte Arnould.

The actor has contested these accusations since his indictment (indictment) in 2020 and appealed the dismissal order.