The French film star Gérard Depardieu was sentenced Tuesday by a Paris court for having sexually assaulted two women working on the set of a film in which he played in 2021. He was sentenced to a suspended sentence of 18 months.
The penalty was in accordance with what the prosecutor had asked for after the four -day trial of Mr. Depardieu in March. The actor was also ordered to be put on a list of sex offenders.
Women – A sets decorator and assistant director – worked on “Green shutters”, a French film in 2021 with M. Depardieu.
The set of set, now 54, who has agreed to be publicly identified by his first name, Amélie, said that Mr. Depardieu seized him by his size and pulled him towards him while he was seated. Then he locked her between her legs and passed her hands over her buttocks, his genitals and her breasts while whispering obscenities, she said.
The assistant director, now 34, said that the actor had touched her breasts and her buttocks three times when she was walking from her locker room on the Paris plateau. She did not agree to be identified publicly.
Mr. Depardieu, 76, denied sexual assault in both cases, although his story concerning the set decorator has moved.
At first, he said he had caught his size “to prevent slipping”, but later said that it was “to attract his attention” so that he could have reprimanded her for doing what he considered a bad job. He said he had never sank his hands over his body.
As for the second assistant, Mr. Depardieu said that his story was impossible, because he had never traveled alone without his bodyguard and could not walk so far.
He said he was not the “vulgar, rude and trashy person who makes people laugh” that he was described as in the media. “I respect people. I like to help people, ”he told court in March.
But he also said that he came from a different generation and that his flamboyant personality, explosive and without excuse was poorly adapted to the current era.
From the start, it was clear that the trial was about two sexual assaults by one of the most famous cinema stars in France. What happened in front of the Court, instead, was part of a long -term care for the country’s obsession for seduction, the non -critical adulation of its artists and the dead point in France of the #MeToo movement.
Mr. Depardieu is considered among the greatest actors of his generation, with more than 230 films, including “Green Card” and “Cyrano de Bergerac”.
He has been at the center of the debate in France on the #MeToo movement since his arrival in the country in 2017, with accusations of sexual abuse based against him. He vigorously denied the accusations and was publicly defended by eminent French people, including leading actors and even the president.
More than 20 women have accused him of sexual abuse, mainly by speaking to French media, in particular the Mediapart survey website. Six of these women filed complaints to the police – two of whom were abandoned because they have exceeded the limitation period.
This was the first case against Mr. Depardieu to be tried.
