Gérard Depardieu was ordered on Monday to face trial on legal costs that he sexually assaulted two ladies throughout a 2021 movie shoot in France, deepening the French actor’s authorized woes and additional tarnishing his world popularity as he faces a rising variety of accusations of sexual violence.
The Paris prosecutor’s workplace introduced that Mr. Depardieu, 75, could be tried in October over allegations that he sexually assaulted the 2 ladies on the set of “Les Volets Verts,” or “The Inexperienced Shutters,” a film by the French director Jean Becker that was launched in 2022.
The prosecutor’s workplace didn’t determine the 2 ladies or present any particulars in regards to the alleged assaults. Attorneys for Mr. Depardieu didn’t instantly reply to requests for touch upon Monday night, however the actor has repeatedly denied any sexual misconduct up to now.
The order to face trial was a critical improvement for Mr. Depardieu — one of the crucial distinguished males in France to face accusations of sexual wrongdoing, particularly since a brand new wave of allegations swept by means of the French film trade in current months.
Mr. Depardieu has been accused by over a dozen ladies of groping, harassment, or sexual assault over previous years, however he has not stood trial in any of the instances.
An internationally acknowledged main man who has performed in additional than 250 motion pictures, he has turn out to be a #MeToo flashpoint in French society.
Some, together with President Emmanuel Macron, have defended Mr. Depardieu, condemning what they are saying is an unfair witch hunt in opposition to a celebrated actor who’s presumed harmless.
Others have welcomed the truth that Mr. Depardieu’s conduct on film units is lastly being acknowledged by the French film trade because it faces a long-overdue inner reckoning with sexism and sexual violence in its midst.
The 2 ladies who’ve accused Mr. Depardieu of sexual assault on the set of “The Inexperienced Shutters” spoke anonymously this yr with Mediapart, an investigative information web site.
One lady, a 53-year-old set decorator, mentioned that Mr. Depardieu had used extraordinarily crude language and had brutally molested her on set throughout a shoot in Paris in September 2021; the opposite, a 33-year-old assistant director, mentioned he had groped her a number of instances, additionally throughout filming within the French capital, Mediapart reported in February.
The film manufacturing crew made Mr. Depardieu apologize to the 2 ladies, in line with Mediapart, which mentioned it had corroborated their account with over a dozen individuals who had labored on the film.
Paris prosecutors introduced the order to face trial on Monday night, after Mr. Depardieu spent a number of hours being questioned by the police within the French capital. He can’t attraction the order, the prosecutor’s workplace mentioned, though the listening to might be pushed to a later date.
Mr. Depardieu had already been charged with rape and sexual assault in 2020 in a separate case involving Charlotte Arnould, a French actress who says he sexually assaulted her in Paris in 2018, when she was 22. That investigation was finalized this month, the prosecutor’s workplace mentioned, however it isn’t but clear whether or not Mr. Depardieu will stand trial on these accusations as nicely.
One other sexual assault lawsuit filed in opposition to him by a unique French actress was dropped in January as a result of it was previous the statute of limitations.
