Paris – French film icon Gérard Depardieu was convicted on Tuesday for sexually assaulting two women in a 2021 film in Paris and sentenced to 18 months of probation. The 76-year-old actor denied allegations that he was fumbled vigorously in “Les Volets Verts” (“Green Blinds”).
DePardieu is currently filming in Portugal, and Depardieu did not appear in court on Tuesday for a sentence or sentencing. His attorney said he would appeal the judgment.
Depardieu was accused by a 34-year-old decorator, an assistant producer at 54, who said the actor caught and groped them while filming in Paris in August and September 2021.
“I was deeply moved and very satisfied with the decision,” the assistant producer, who was identified as Amélie in court only. “It was a victory for me, a step forward. I felt justice.”
DePardieu made his position for the first time in March, telling the court that he was completely different from the men described by the two women.
“I don't understand why I'm fumbled into a woman, her hips, her breasts,” he said. “I'm not a person who fights people on the subway.”
The two women did not immediately report the alleged crimes, but after Depardieu published an open letter in the Le Figaro newspaper in October 2023, he said: “Never, I have never abused a woman,” the suit designer went to the police station. She reported on Depardieu's alleged assault, sexual harassment and gender discrimination insults.
The trial began in October, but Retirement due to poor health of depardieu. His lawyer told the court in March that Depardieu had a diabetic patient and had undergone heart surgery for a tetrapod animal.
Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty
Medical experts later thought he was suitable for the trial, but limited the hearing to six hours a day, with a 15-minute pause if Depardieu needed them.
“Gérard Depardieu is a very free person and can be very direct,” said his lawyer Jérémie Assous, who treated the charges as “a lie.”
In March, dozens of protesters, mainly women, gathered outside the court, condemning their alleged gender discrimination and impunity for sexual offenders in French films and French society. They said they were glad that the actor finally answered the charges in court and waved placards that included: “Victim, we believe in you; rapist, we see you”; “Touch one, you answer everyone.”
In recent years, DePardieu is a giant in French cinemas, more notorious than famous figures. More than a dozen women in the film industry accused him of sexual misconduct. Many claims surfaced a few years after the alleged incident, but under French law, actors could not be tried for them.
In a high-profile move, the actor left his native France for a few years about a decade ago and moved to Belgium, criticizing the French tax increase.
Depardieu is open to admiration for Russia under the leadership of authoritarian President Vladimir Putin, who granted Russian citizenship in 2013.
Later he also became a citizen of Dubai.
