Cliff Notes – Gerard Depardieu denies sexual assault in trial
- Gerard Depardieu testified in his sexual assault trial, denying wrongdoing while claiming his behaviour is sometimes perceived as boorish.
- The actor described being told he has a “Russian nature” regarding his drinking and acknowledged using crude language around one of the accusers.
- Depardieu faces allegations from two women who claim he touched them inappropriately on the set of his 2021 film, Les Volets Verts.
Gerard Depardieu acknowledges ‘Russian nature’ but denies sexual assault in trial | Paris
French actor Gerard Depardieu testified that he has been told he has “a Russian nature” for his drinking, during his trial for sexual assault.
On the second day of the trial in a Paris court, he denied any wrongdoing but said his behaviour was regarded by some as boorish.
Depardieu said: “I’ve always been told I have a Russian nature, I don’t know if it’s because of the drinking or the vulgarity… I’m not touching the butts of women.”
The 76-year-old is accused of sexually assaulting two female crew members on the set of the film Les Volets Verts (Green Shutters) in 2021.
The scandal, which has grown into the largest controversy launched by the #MeToo movement in France, has thrown the country’s cultural elite into turmoil. Some of supporters suggest he was guilty simply because of his ‘promiscuous French nature’.
However the French movie giant Gérard Depardieu on Tuesday gave his first testimony in a Paris-held trial where he is accused of groping two women on a 2021 movie set.
The allegations against him
The actor, who faces up to five years in prison if he is convicted, denied the charges against him but said his behavior is sometimes experienced as boorish.
Set dresser Amélie described how the actor had “brutally grabbed her” in a corridor, held her still by “closing his legs around her like a crab” before “kneading her waist, her belly, right up to her breasts”.
Amélie said that Depardieu’s bodyguards had put a stop to the assault. She alleged that the actor had called out “We’ll see each other again, my darling!” as he walked off.
Another complaint for sexual assault that had allegedly taken place during the film’s production was filed the next month on March 21. Sarah, the 34-year-old third assistant director, accused Depardieu of having touched “her buttocks” one evening as she walked with him from his dressing room to the set.
In an interview she said that she was “Shocked”, and that she had “said nothing”.
According to her statements, Depardieu had touched her inappropriately on two other occasions on the buttocks and breasts even after she had “tried to say no”. The two women said that they had notified the film’s production, who had allegedly failed to appreciate the seriousness of what had happened – and the impact it had had on them.