Trial of Gérard Depardieu: the actor, tried for sexual assault, will not be present at the hearing

Targeted by numerous accusations, Gérard Depardieu was expected this Monday at the Paris court to be tried for sexual assault on two women during filming in 2021. The actor will ultimately not be present at the hearing, due to his “state of health”, his lawyer announced this same Monday on Franceinfo. “Gérard Depardieu is extremely affected and, unfortunately, his doctors forbid him from appearing at the hearing,” explained Me Jérémie Assous. The actor will “request a postponement” of the trial “to a later date”, “so that he can be present”, he added.

At the opening of the trial, this Monday noon at the Paris court, Me Jérémie Assous spoke to the press to give some elements of explanation: “Gérard Depardieu intends to present himself, wants to defend himself. For three years, lies have been spread, we have only had the word of the prosecution in this case. We will finally be able to have the defense speak. My client refuses any accusation in this case, we are very calm.”

Gérard Depardieu was given a summons to court at the end of April, following police custody, “for sexual assaults likely to have been committed in September 2021 to the detriment of two victims, on the set of movie The green shutters » by Jean Becker, the prosecution indicated. One of the two women, a film decorator, filed a complaint in February 2024 against the actor – indicted for rape in another case – for sexual assault, sexual harassment and sexist outrages during the filming of this film, resulting in the opening of an investigation.

“Let justice be the same for all”

“I expect that justice will be the same for everyone and that Mr. Depardieu does not benefit from preferential treatment because he is an artist,” declared his lawyer, Me Carine Durrieu-Diebolt. “The witnesses and the evidence that he will produce will demonstrate that he is only the target of false accusations,” promised Me Assous, for whom “the aim pursued has just been revealed through the requests compensation: enrich yourself by 30,000 euros”.

According to the 55-year-old complainant, the alleged acts took place in September 2021, in a private mansion in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. In his story to the investigative site Mediapart, the latter explained that Gérard Depardieu would have suddenly shouted during a conversation that he wanted a “fan”, because he could “not even get hard” in this heat, then he would have assured being able to “make women come without touching them”.

“A serial sex offender”

An hour later, he allegedly “grabbed her roughly” as she left the set. Gérard Depardieu would then have “blocked her by closing his legs on (her) like a crab”, then would have “kneaded her waist, her stomach, going up to (her) breasts”, she assured. “My client is waiting for justice to establish that Gérard Depardieu is a serial sexual attacker,” added Me Carine Durrieu-Diebolt.

The actor will also be judged for sexual violence denounced in a complaint by another woman, an assistant director on the same film. During this filming, “from morning to evening, we had the right to our salacious comments”, testified the actress Anouk Grinberg, in an interview with AFP.

A great figure in French cinema, with more than 200 films, Gérard Depardieu has been accused of sexual violence by several women over the last six years. Complaints for sexual assault against the actor were dismissed for prescription.

But Gérard Depardieu is under the threat of another trial: in August, the Paris prosecutor’s office requested his referral to the criminal court so that he could be tried for rape and sexual assault on the actress Charlotte Arnould. She was the first to file a complaint against the famous actor in 2018.