“Officially, I am no longer alone! “After the testimonies of thirteen women who accuse Gérard Depardieu of sexual violence, collected by Médiapart, Charlotte Arnould, hopes that others will carry will follow his example. The young actress filed a complaint against Gérard Depardieu for two rapes in 2018.
“Among those who spoke to Mediapart, there are some for whom the facts are not prescribed. I hope some will be ready to file a complaint, ”Charlotte Arnould, 27, told the magazine. She of Thursday. “There are now thirteen known testimonies, but in my opinion we are well below reality”. “Marine Turchi [journaliste de Mediapart] says that since the investigation, she has continued to receive testimonies”.
A “great relief”
Gérard Depardieu was indicted in France on December 16, 2020 for “rape” and “sexual assault” after the complaint of the actress, who had denounced at the end of August 2018 two rapes at the Parisian home of the star. She had obtained in the summer of 2020 that the investigation, first classified by the Paris prosecutor’s office in June 2019, be entrusted to an investigating judge. The Court of Appeal upheld the indictment in March 2022.
“I felt great relief when the testimonials were published in Mediapart, comments Charlotte Arnould. Officially, I am no longer alone! It’s sad to come to this, but it also gives weight to my story and my case. »
Depardieu, “a friend of the family”
In the summer of 2018, the young woman, on the track of a career as a dancer but suffering from anorexia (she said she weighed “37 kg” at the time), changed lanes and was selected to Passion, a play directed by Fanny Ardant. At his invitation, she goes to the actor, a “family friend”, aware of his “illness”, whom she considered her “little father of cinema” and in whom she “necessarily trusted”.
His complaint, filed in Lambesc (Bouches-du-Rhône), leaked to the press. She says she feared reprisals from Russian supporters of the actor. When her complaint was dismissed, Charlotte Arnould was “collapsed” but filed a civil action and the investigation resumed.
A “huge omerta” in the world of cinema
In December 2021, shocked to see that “nothing is happening” and that Gérard Depardieu continues his career “while I survive”, she reveals her identity on Twitter. “In the professional world, it was very cautious. There is a huge omerta”, she believes, angry with Fanny Ardant who speaks of a “disenchantment in love”.
“All the powerful support each other. And then, Depardieu, it’s like wine, sausage: it’s France, you don’t touch it. On the sets, he farts, he says horrible things, everyone laughs, a little embarrassed… He imposes, he plays with it, ”she regrets. The 74-year-old actor “formally denies all the charges likely to fall under criminal law”, told Mediapart the Temime law firm, responsible for defending him.