Paris – French cinema icon Gerard Despardou will be in the Paris courtroom this week. He was accused of sexually assaulting two women in 2021.
Standing up for the first time Tuesday, Depardou told the court that he was not like the man the two women described.
“I don’t know why I get a woman, her ass, her breasts,” he said. “I’m not the kind of person who rubs myself against the people in the Metro.”
The actor said it was “very emotional.”
The two women did not immediately report suspects. However, after the actor released an open letter to the Le Figaro newspaper in October 2023, he said he “has never abused a woman.” The set designer went to the police. She reported Depardeu on suspicion of sexual assault, sexual harassment and sexist insults.
The trial was first held in October, and it was. Depends due to failure in Depardieu’s health. His lawyer told the court that the 76-year-old had diabetes and recently had quadrature bypass heart surgery.
Dimital Dirkov/AFP/Getty
Medical experts later deemed him appropriate to attend trial, but the hearing was limited to six hours a day, and if Depardieu needed them, it was limited to a 15-minute pause. The trial, which began Monday, was only scheduled to run for two days, but if his health requires a break in the proceedings, it could be long.
Depardieu was in court on Monday to open the trial. As they walked together, his lawyer told reporters he was pleased with the opportunity for the actor to present his side.
“Gerard Depardou is a very free and very direct person,” said his lawyer, Jeremy Asas.
Dozens of protesters, mostly women, gathered outside the courts to condemn what was called endemic sex discrimination and immunity of sex offenders in French films and French society. They told reporters they were pleased that the actor was in court to finally answer the allegations. “Touch one and answer everything.”
Depardou, a giant in French cinema, has been more infamous than the famous ones in recent years. He is accused of sexual misconduct by more than 12 women in the film industry. However, under French law, actors cannot be tested for them, as many of the claims surfaced a few years after the alleged incident occurred.
In a prominent move, the actor left his hometown of France about a decade ago, criticising the French tax hike and moved to Belgium.
Depardou was open about his praise for Russia under the authoritarian president Vladimir Putin, who awarded Russian citizenship in 2013.
He later became a citizen of Dubai.
Depardou, who denied all charges against him, would be worth about $80,000 in five years’ prison if he was convicted.
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