French justice
Assault allegations: Actor Depardieu has to go to court
French actor Gérard Depardieu has been summoned for questioning because of renewed allegations of sexual assault (archive photo). photo
© Thierry Roge/BELGA/dpa
Gérard Depardieu is considered one of the greats in French cinema. But women keep making serious accusations against him. He now has to appear in court in the fall.
Depardieu was summoned for questioning on Monday and was temporarily in police custody. The actor has denied the allegations against him, said his lawyer Christian Saint-Palais.
A decorator claimed that Depardieu sexually harassed her during the filming of the 2021 film “Les volets verts”.
Older allegations
The new allegations against the award-winning actor are part of a series of accusations, some of which were made anonymously and which do not always end up on the desk of investigators. In 2018, actress Charlotte Arnould sued film star Depardieu (“Cyrano von Bergerac”, “Asterix and Obelix”). This case has been under investigation for rape since 2020.
Depardieu completely denies the allegations. In a letter published in the newspaper “Le Figaro” in the fall, he described himself as a victim of a “media lynching” and wrote “I have never abused a woman.” Depardieu continued: “I am neither a rapist nor a predator. I am just a man…”. Several dozen artists – including the actress Charlotte Rampling and the musician and former French first lady Carla Bruni – also complained that the presumption of innocence was being ignored in the case of Depardieu, “probably the greatest of all actors”.
Opinions about the actor vary
Opinions about Depardieu and the serious allegations made against him vary in France. The actor, who has appeared in more than 200 films, shocked many people in December with comments he made in a television report about his trip to North Korea in 2018. In it he repeatedly makes misogynistic and questionable comments, for example calling women “big sluts”.
The then Minister of Culture, Rima Abdul-Malak, initiated an investigation into whether Depardieu should be stripped of his Legion of Honor. That ultimately didn’t happen. The actor received France’s highest award in 1996. Depardieu lost the National Order of Quebec and his title as an honorary citizen of the Belgian community of Estaimpuis. The Paris wax museum had his figure removed.